ELK COUNTY, Pa. (WTAJ)– A Ridgway woman who was on probation is now locked up after police said she tried to run from officers while carelessly holding her child and was also on drugs.

Kristin Mertz, 29, endangered her 9-month-old son when she tried to flee police by running down a “very old, narrow” set of basement stairs while holding the infant, according to the charges filed by Ridgway Borough police.

It was around 8:30 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 26 when police were called to a home along Lincoln Avenue and when they arrived, they saw Mertz put her son in an unbuckled car seat then go down the stairs. While carrying her son, police said she bounced the seat off the walls and steps, along with breaking glassware at the bottom.

While Mertz was speaking with police, she reportedly was being “haphazard” in the ways she was holding her child to the point officers thought she was going to drop him on his head.

According to the criminal complaint, police asked Mertz if she was using drugs, but she said that she had “just some wine” along with her usual medication. Mertz, who was found to be on probation, then took a drug test and the results showed that she was positive for meth and K2, a synthetic version of THC.

While Mertz was being arrested, she allegedly resisted by kicking an officer multiple times and even pushed another one who then almost fell on top of her child.

An item of drug paraphernalia also was found next to her while she was inside the patrol car being taken to prison, police noted.

Mertz faces a felony count of endangering the welfare of children along with two misdemeanor counts of resisting arrest and use or possession of drug paraphernalia.

Mertz is lodged in Elk County Prison with bail set at $10,000. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Dec. 21.