GUILDERLAND — A young woman was arrested at McDonald’s Tuesday for fighting with her boyfriend in the parking lot while under the influence of multiple drugs.

Her two young children were taken away by Child Protective Services, and put in the custody of their father.

Guilderland Police were called to respond to a domestic dispute at the McDonald’s on Western Avenue at 9:49 a.m. Patrons of the restaurant had complained to the manager that a couple was fighting loudly outside the building, in the presence of two small children, according to Sergeant Gary Lee of the Guilderland Police.

“Once I heard the description of the scene, I called the Child Protective Services hotline on my drive to McDonald’s,” Lee told The Enterprise yesterday.

When he arrived, he found Jodie A. Ladouceur, 25, “clearly under the influence of a substance other than alcohol,” according to a press release.

“She had the kids in her arms and she was out of control,” said Lee; the children are two months and 3 years old.

Ladouceur, who is from Lisbon (St. Lawrence County), admitted to taking prescription medications and snorting “bath salts,” according to a release from the Guilderland Police. Bath salts, in this case, are not to be confused with the crystals to put in bathwater, said Lee. Bath salts are a synthetic drug containing mephedrone, which is a stimulant.

“It is not an illegal substance, and it is sold using the name ‘bath salts’ to fly under the radar,” Lee said. At the Guilderland Police station, a drug recognition expert from the City of Rensselaer Police Department evaluated Ladouceur.

“The experts determined she definitely had a heavy dose of stimulant in her system, but they couldn’t say for sure what it was,” said Lee. Ladouceur’s boyfriend did not have drugs in his system, and the children were released into his care.

“The last thing we want to see is kids taken away from both parents,” Lee said. He said he made the determination to call Child Protective Services based on “common sense.” The children and their father were taken to a local motel, and will return to the father’s family in Lisbon this week.

After being arrested for endangering the welfare of a child and appearing in public under the influence of a drug other than alcohol, Ladouceur was arraigned before Judge John Bailey in Guilderland Town Court and sent to Albany County’s jail on $3,500 bail. She will appear in court again tonight.