Spokane police are investigating a mother for possible assault charges after her baby suffered a skull fracture when she dropped him while boarding an STA bus.

A bus passenger saw the woman drop the 7-month-old boy as she tried to board in the 1300 block of East Sprague Avenue outside the Union Gospel Mission women's shelter on Aug. 9.

The witness said the boy cried a little bit and appeared lethargic as his mother picked up him and got on the bus and was "swaying and staggering," according to a search warrant filed recently to obtain the woman's medical records.

The witness thought the woman was on drugs and said the boy was filthy, according to the warrant.

Police contacted the woman as she sat on a bench at the STA Plaza, where she said she was on Xanax and another drug she couldn't identify. The officer was "extremely concerned about her ability to care for the baby," whom he said didn't appear to have been washed for some time.

"The baby appeared to be in good health other than the poor hygiene," according to the search warrant.

The woman was arrested on a warrant for driving while suspended while the child was taken by Child Protective Services.

The baby's foster mother alerted police two days later to a lump on the boy's head, which an emergency room doctor said was a skull fracture. Police investigating possible assault charges have seized the mother's medical records to try to determine her level of impairment when she dropped the boy.

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