Mom On Meth Passes Out With Child In Car, Police Say

NEW LENOX, IL - It was late Sunday night and a shopper was driving through the New Lenox Walmart parking lot. Suddenly, one of the cars in the dark parking lot caught their attention. A small child was in the backseat, but nobody else looked to be around. The distressed shopper thought the child was in danger, so they called 911. A New Lenox Police Department officer on nearby patrol arrived at 501 East Lincoln Highway around 11:20 p.m.

A 3-year-old was strapped into a child safety seat in the car's backseat. As for the child's mother, Carly Dominski, 37, she was slumped over the steering wheel, New Lenox Deputy Chief of Police Louis Alessandrini told Patch.

"She was initially unresponsive. The officer tried to get her attention and she did not respond," he said.

Finally, the officer got the driver's side door open, and that's when Dominski awoke, Alessandrini said.

"The officer saw drug paraphernalia and she was under the influence of drugs," he added.

Dominski, a New Lenox resident who lives in the 200 block of Circlegate Road, had been using methamphetamine and heroin, Alessandrini said. Small quantities of both drugs were in the car. An ambulance was called and paramedics checked out Dominski. They determined she did not need to be hospitalized, police said.

From there, her vehicle was towed away. DCFS was notified and the woman's small child was placed into temporary custody of the father, Alessandrini explained.

As for Dominski, she was taken to downtown Joliet, where she was booked into the Will County Adult Detention Facility. She was charged with unlawful possession of controlled substances, possession of Methamphetamine and endangering the life and health of a child, New Lenox Police said.

On Monday, a judge from Will County set Dominski's bail at $50,000. Two days later, she's been unable to come up with $5,000, which is 10 percent, to make bond.

Alessandrini said he wanted to thank the anonymous Walmart shopper who called 911 after seeing the child in the car, thinking the kid was unattended and in danger.

"It was an unfortunate situation, but the mother at least turned out be OK and the child is OK," he said.

Without the caller's intervention, he noted, there's no telling how many more hours may have passed until someone else noticed Dominski slumped behind her steering wheel.

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Mugshot of Carly Dominski via Will County Sheriff