SOMERSET COUNTY

2 women charged with child abuse, endangerment

Mike Deak
@MikeDeakMyCJ
  • One charged after passing out at Chuck E. Cheese
  • One charged after DWI arrest in Bound Brook
  • Charges carry possible 5-year prison sentences

BRIDGEWATER – Two Somerset County women are facing charges of child abuse and child endangerment after they were arrested for drunken driving with children in their vehicles.

Brooke Wanemacher, 33, of South Bound Brook, was charged with two counts of child abuse following an incident at Chuck E. Cheese on Thursday morning.

Laura Kassim, 45, of Bound Brook, was charged with child endangerment after being arrested on East Main Street in Bound Brook at 9:50 p.m. Saturday.

Police were called to Chuck E. Cheese on Promenade Boulevard at about 10:47 a.m. Thursday on a report of a woman who had fallen asleep in a booth with two children, ages 11 and 8, according to an affidavit filed in Superior Court.

A store employee told police that he had seen the woman, later identified as Wanemacher, drive up to the restaurant at about 10:15 a.m. with the two children, then enter the restaurant, the affidavit said.

When Wanemacher woke up, police said, her speech was slurred and she had trouble standing. Wanemacher was taken to police headquarters, where she registered a 0.38 percent blood alcohol content; the legal limit in New Jersey is .08 percent.

Wanemacher was remanded to the Somerset County Jail in lieu of $50,000 bail set by Superior Court Judge Julie Marino.

Kassim was arrested after Bound Brook police saw her drive across the center line on Columbus Place, an affidavit said.

When police stopped her on East Main Street, they found a 7-year-old boy in the rear seat not wearing a seat belt or in a proper child seat, according to the affidavit.

Kassim’s blood alcohol level was measured at 0.18 percent. She was remanded to the county jail in lieu of $75,000 bail set by Marino.

Child abuse and child endangerment are second-degree crimes carrying a possible five-year prison sentence.

In July, a Bernardsville woman was charged with child endangerment after police found her passed out and intoxicated while she was taking care of a 2-year-old and a 3-year-old.

Also in July, a Piscataway man was charged with child endangerment after he was arrested for drunken driving on Route 22 in Bridgewater.

Staff Writer Mike Deak: 908-243-6607; mdeak@mycentraljersey.com