GREENSBURG (KDKA) — Two local sisters are charged after police say they fell asleep in a running van with a newborn baby inside.

Police say Jamie and Tonya Dickant admitted taking methadone earlier in the day which is a drug commonly prescribed to recovering addicts.

They were discovered outside the Sunoco on West Pittsburgh Street in Greensburg.

“Patrons of the Sunoco station that tried to wake the two females were unsuccessful,” Greensburg Police Chief Walter Lyons said.

Jamie Dickant is charged with endangering the welfare of her young child.

KDKA’s Trina Orlando went the place listed as her home address.

“They’re not criminals, okay, they don’t live here – neither one of them – don’t get me involved, get off the property, I have to call the police,” a woman who answered the door told KDKA-TV.

Tonya Dickant is charged with driving under the influence under a controlled substance. Her roommate came to her defense saying she was tired after driving home from Elk County earlier that day.

“Just pulled over to sleep,” Thomas Ford, the roommate, said. “There’s nothing wrong with that. Would you have her sooner run somebody over or hit something, you know what I mean?”

“No, she did right in my eyes,” he said.

The baby is now in the care of a family member.

Both sisters are expected in court later this month to face those charges.

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