A recent uptick in the use of bath salts in the Jersey Shore area has resulted in the arrests of several individuals, according to court records filed by the Tiadaghton Valley Regional police.

In one case, officers intercepted a potential drug sale involving a 34-year-old mother who was walking along the 1000 block of Nichols Run Road in Porter Township with her child waiting to meet up with a man who was allegedly going to sell her four grams of bath salts, Patrolman Joshua Klinger said.

Police responded to the neighborhood about 6:30 p.m. on July 12 to investigate a report of a woman walking with a child “acting strangely and possibly under the influence of narcotics,” Klinger said.

When officers arrived in the area, they found Erica Wagner, with her minor son, “throwing her arms up in the air,” Klinger said, adding that when questioned, the mother said she fine.

While officers were talking with her, Timothy Getgen II, also 34, of 1123 Cemetery St., Apartment 2, Jersey Shore, pulled up in his car, Klinger said, adding that the driver admitted to him that he had bath salts under his seat.

Officers found two bags, one with four grams of bath salts and another just under a gram of the controlled substance, along with three syringes. Getgen also admitted that he was going to sell the bath salts to Wagner after picking her up and taking her to an ATM, according to the officer’s affidavit.

After Getgen permitted the officer to examine the text messages on his

cellphone, “it was clear that Wagner had contacted him numerous times to purchase narcotics,” Klinger alleged.

Charged with possession with intent to deliver bath salts, possession of bath sales, possession of drug paraphernalia and illegal use of a cellphone, Getgen was arraigned before District Judge Jerry C. Lepley and remains jailed in the Lycoming County Prison in lieu of $75,000 bail.

Wagner, of 3411 Pine Mountain Road, Jersey Shore, has been charged with endangering the welfare of a child and illegal use of a cellphone, and remains behind bar in lieu of $10,000 bail set by the judge.

In another drug case, Alex Bower, 28, of 409 S. Broad St., Jersey Shore, admitted to Lepley during his arraignment “I relapsed. I slipped up. I’m currently in rehab.”

Already on probation for possession of methamphetamines, Bower has now been arrested again after “a large quantity of suspected bath salts” and suspected drug money were seized from his home when probation agents paid a surprise visit there on the afternoon of June 26, according to an affidavit filed by Patrolman Tyler Bierly.

The probation agents notified the police after discovering bath salts in Bower’s bedroom. Police obtained a warrant to search the entire premises. Officers seized 13 grams of bath salts, valued at an estimated $1,300. In Bower’s wallet was an estimated $2,700, which police alleged was cash from drug sales.

A neighbor of Bower’s came forward and told police that she had “bought bath salts allegedly from him in the past,” Bierly said.

In the attic, officers also discovered marijuana plants that Bower’s friend, Jamie Sweeley, 38, of the same address, allegedly were growing, court records stated.

Bower, charged with possession with intent to deliver bath salts, possession of bath salts and possession of drug paraphernalia, is released on $75,000 bail while Sweeley, charged with possession with intent to deliver marijuana, possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia, is free on $50,000 bail.

Concerning another arrest made by Bierly, Skyler Bower, 29, of 1407 Walnut St., Jersey Shore, has been charged with possession of bath salts as well as possession of marijuana and possession of two suboxone pills without a prescription in in the 100 block of Tomb Avenue on June 11. He is free on $10,000 bail.

In another case, motorist Kyle Buttorff, 30, of 311 Buttorff Lane, Jersey Shore, has been charged with driving under the influence of bath salts following an incident that began when Patrolman Jordan Mahosky was called to the 100 block of North Pennsylvania Avenue in Jersey Shore to investigate a report of a man inside a pickup truck “going crazy” about 2 p.m. on May 23.

While en route to the scene, the officer came upon the suspected pickup truck and pursued it to the 9000 block of Route 220, where he pulled over the vehicle. The driver, later identified as Buttorff, was “very distraught and animated,” the officer wrote in an affidavit.

Buttorff denied using any drugs, but he continued to make “exaggerated movements and he was unsteady on his feet. He also was very sweaty and could not stay still,” Mahosky said.

After doing poorly on a series of field sobriety tests, Buttorff agreed to submit a blood sample. After the sample was taken, he admitted to using bath salts, Mahosky said, adding that the blood test confirmed the controlled substance was in his system. The driver has been sent a summons to appear before Lepley.

In another case, a member of the state Attorney General’s Office Bureau of Narcotics Investigation has charged BJ Lee Coleman, 40, of 115 N. Main St., Jersey Shore, with allegedly selling $90 worth of bath salts to an informant in the 100 block of North Pennsylvania Avenue in the borough on June 4. Initially jailed, Coleman has since been freed on $75,000 bail and he has since waived his preliminary hearing.