FARMINGTON — Police say a Chesterville woman faces charges, including assault of an officer, as area police and fire fighters searched for her child Saturday. 

A charge of unlawful possession of prescription drugs was added when police found she possessed prescription medication that didn’t belong to her when they took her to Franklin County Detention Center.

Brittany L. Noyes, 23, called police about 6:30 p.m. Saturday to report her 4-year-old child was missing from a home in West Farmington at 141 Oak St.

Noyes apparently lost track of the child about 6 p.m. while she and her two children visited the home where the children’s father, Jason Fowler, was staying, Deputy Chief Shane Cote said.

The father left the residence and took the child with him without telling Noyes. The child was later found at a residence in Chesterville.

Throughout the investigation, Noyes was not really cooperative and appeared to be impaired, Cote said.  It took police a long time to get any information from her. The daughter told police that her brother had a form of autism.

At one point, Noyes was arguing with her daughter. When Sgt. Edward Hastings tried to intervene, she pushed him. At that point, Hastings considered the emotional state she was under, Cote said.

Later, as the daughter attempted to hand a phone to Warden Chris McCabe so that he could talk to her father, Noyes attempted to take the phone. When Cote stepped in to tell her to let the Warden have the phone, she flailed her arms and struck him, he said.

Neither officer was hurt but after the assault on the second officer, Hastings arrested her on the charge.

Police talked to the child’s father about 7 p.m. but he would not bring the child to West Farmington so police could verify that he had the child, Cote said. They had to find him and send a state trooper to a Chesterville residence to confirm the child was with him.

At the detention center, police found prescription drugs on Noyes that did not belong to her and made the second charge, Cote said.

She bailed on $250 cash Sunday, and has a court appearance scheduled for June 5.

Along with Farmington Police Department, members of Farmington Fire and Rescue, the State Warden Service, Maine State Police, Franklin County Sheriff’s Department, Wilton Police Department and several local residents helped in the search for the child, Cote said.

abryant@sunjournal.com

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