SNOHOMISH — A Snohomish County sheriff’s deputy reported that two young children were unconscious Thursday night when he spotted them in a van only feet away from where their parents allegedly were smoking heroin.
The children, a 3-year-old and a 10-month-old, were breathing but didn’t respond when the deputy spoke to them or nudged their feet. He called for paramedics who took the children to a local hospital for an evaluation. An update of their condition was unknown Friday.
The children were taken into protective custody, and a state social worker was dispatched to the hospital, according to a police affidavit filed Friday.
The parents, both in their 30s, were arrested for investigation of second-degree criminal mistreatment and possession of drug paraphernalia. An Everett District Court judge Friday did not find probable cause to hold the mother on the mistreatment allegation. Both parents were released.
A public defender argued there was no proof the children had ingested the drug or been otherwise injured. Court records show the mother has lost custody of her older children from a previous marriage, with allegations of drug abuse.
The woman’s parents in recent years have written the courts, asking that she not be allowed custody until she addresses her addiction.
The 3-year-old is believed to be the daughter of the man in the van. Child Protective Services investigated the child’s care in the past and found no evidence of abuse or neglect, records show.
In the recent Snohomish incident, deputies stumbled across the van around 9 p.m. in the 600 block of Bowen Street. They’d been in the area trying to catch up with a wanted fugitive.
Deputy Mathew Boice was walking away from a house when he spotted a van parked nearby. He glanced inside and noticed a man hunched over, messing with a metal box, according to court papers.
Boice reported that he saw a strip of aluminium foil, commonly associated with heroin use. The deputy asked the woman, who was in driver’s seat, what she was doing. She told the deputy she’d driven her boyfriend to the house to do some work on a vehicle. She denied knowing anything about the drug paraphernalia.
The boyfriend, who is a felon, stepped out of the van and spoke with two other deputies.
Boice then noticed two children in car seats in the back of the van. They appeared to be unconscious.
The deputy reported that the van reeked of recently burned chemicals. He also spotted drug paraphernalia,
“I could clearly see that both (suspects) were in this van, smoking heroin directly in the presence of their two young children,” Boice wrote.
Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463; hefley@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @dianahefley.
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