Rebecca Lutz

ADAMS TWP — Police charged a mother with driving drunk after she showed up at the Mars Primary Center to pick up a child from school Friday afternoon.

An Adams Township police officer stopped the suspect Rebecca D. Lutz, 33, of Middlesex Township, after rushing to her sport utility vehicle which was drifting backward out of gear.

Already in the vehicle was Lutz’s 2-year-old son, authorities said.

District Judge Sue Haggerty arraigned Lutz on a felony charge of child endangerment. She also is charged with driving under the influence, reckless endangerment and disorderly conduct.

She remains free on $10,000 bail.

Patrolman Michael Bordt was on school detail shortly after 2:30 p.m. when administrators at the primary center on Route 228 called for his help, police said.

Bordt ran outside and noticed an SUV in reverse motion with the driver “halfway in and out of the vehicle,” according to court documents.

While the officer ran to the SUV, the driver, later identified as Lutz, jumped back in and shut the door. Bordt opened the driver’s door and told her to put her foot on the brake.

He eventually reached into the vehicle and made sure the vehicle was in park.

The officer smelled a “strong odor” of alcohol coming from Lutz, documents said. He also noticed the 2-year-old in the back seat.

The defendant denied having consumed any alcohol that day, police said, but she refused to perform any field sobriety tests. She also refused to submit to a blood test.

Lutz was arrested and placed in back of a cruiser. Inside, police said, she began “kicking and screaming.” Officers eventually placed her in leg restraints.

Police subsequently contacted the defendant’s mother, who arrived to take custody of Lutz’s children.

Her preliminary hearing is tentatively set for 11 a.m. Tuesday at the office of District Judge Wayne Seibel in Evans City.