Traffic stop leads to arrests in connection with drugs, child injury

Two North Dakota residents were arrested on charges related to drugs and injury to a child Saturday night in Post Falls.

A Kootenai County sheriff’s deputy stopped a car near the intersection of North Spokane Street and East Third Street at 11:41 p.m., smelled marijuana and saw firearms inside the vehicle, the Sheriff’s Office said in a news release. Over a pound of marijuana was found in the car, as well as methamphetamine, cash and drug paraphernalia. The deputy also found six firearms, including one in reach of a small child in the back seat, the release said.

The driver, Nikki J. Longie, 31, from Fort Totten, North Dakota, and passenger Joshua A. Schild, 29, from Devils Lake, North Dakota, were arrested on suspicion of trafficking marijuana, injury to a child, possession of marijuana and possession of paraphernalia.

Longie also was charged with possession of meth and being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm. The child was placed in the custody of Idaho Department of Health and Welfare Child Protective Services.