Substance abuse treatment centre manager allegedly smoked crack while driving with child

A manager of a substance abuse treatment centre in Birmingham, Alabama, faces charges after authorities said she was driving while smoking a crack pipe with a young child in her car. Bari Joy Williams, 44, of Gardendale, is charged with chemical endangerment of a child, unlawful possession of a controlled substance and unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia, said Hoover police Capt. Gregg Rector.

Williams was arrested on Nov. 20, and released from the county jail after posting $12,500 bond, records show. Police and court records say that at about 2:30pm last Thursday, a man called police to report a woman driving erratically on Interstate 65 and told police he thought the driver was smoking crack cocaine while she was driving. The caller told police there was a child in the car. Officers on patrol found the car and followed it to a parking lot.



The officer walked up to the car and saw Williams holding a crack pipe in her right hand. The bottom part of the pipe was wrapped in a washcloth to prevent lip burns. The officer knocked on the window, and the woman inside tried to hide the pipe. Once she rolled down the window, the officer said the "smell of burnt crack cocaine was overwhelming." Williams got out of the car and began yelling that she was a social worker and the pipe belonged to her husband.

A search of her car turned up a small amount of crack cocaine. She later told police she was having family problems and relapsed. The 5-year-old girl in the car with her was taken into the custody of the Department of Human Resources. Williams told police she was the substance abuse director for Olivia's House. A woman who answered the phone at the centre said Williams was the clinical manager there.