Mom arrested while picking up child from school

— Independence County authorities say a woman waiting to pick up a child at school was arrested and charged with drunken-driving and drug possession after a deputy had to wake her up as she sat behind the wheel of her car.

Courtney Pickens, 27, was arrested Friday outside Southside School, Deputy Brian Luetschwager said Tuesday.

He said that, in a search of Pickens' car after the arrest, he found a bag containing a glass smoking pipe and another bag containing six pills - one of them crushed - that turned out to be the anti-anxiety drug Xanax.

Luetschwager said Pickens' child was picked up by a relative and the state Department of Human Services was notified. Pickens is scheduled for a court appearance Sept. 23.

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