‘BRAVE’ SON TURNS IN DEALER DAD
A “brave” 11-year-old Lawrence boy who called the cops on his own father — telling them there was a suitcase full of fentanyl and heroin in the house — is being commended by Lawrence police and city officials for stepping up and doing the right thing.
“The kid knows the difference between right and wrong. He understands that this kind of lifestyle for his father isn’t what is working,” said Lawrence police Chief James Fitzpatrick, who added that the presence of powerful drugs in the home — let alone the criminal lifestyle — posed a threat to the boy.
“He’s brave and insightful enough to know that this is a dangerous drug,” Fitzpatrick said. “I’ve seen over the years children exposed to this type of activity, but never having the wherewithal to contact police independently.”
Yamil Mercado, 40, turned himself in to Lawrence police last night, aware that he was being sought on drug charges.
Police said the boy’s tip led officers to the family home Wednesday night, where they were allowed inside by the boy’s grandmother.
In a bedroom, cops found a suitcase with 212 grams of suspected heroin and fentanyl packed in plastic bags, Fitzpatrick said. The drugs’ street value is estimated at $8,500, according to police.
An arrest warrant was filed yesterday morning for the boy’s father on charges of trafficking more than 200 grams of a Class A substance, and child endangerment, Fitzpatrick said.
Marc Laplante, vice president of the Lawrence City Council, said as a father of three boys 16 and under, the fact the child was subjected to the drug lifestyle was heartbreaking.
“What an atrocity for an 11-year-old to be pitted against his own father like that,” Laplante said. “It’s a horrendous position to be in. ... How brave is he to take a stand and do the right thing? I don’t even know if he’s fully cognizant of how important that is, and what he was able to accomplish by doing so.”
Fitzpatrick said when the boy called cops Wednesday, he already knew his father was a drug dealer who had been convicted of “serious drug charges in the past.”
The chief said the boy was with a 13-year-old cousin when he noticed the brown suitcase, which prompted him to pick up the phone.
“He called Lawrence police to show them something suspicious that he found in his father’s luggage,” Fitzpatrick said.
The appreciative responding officers let the boy know how courageous he is, the chief said.
Cops also told the boy they would protect him: “We said that we would keep an eye on his house,” Fitzpatrick said.
The state Department of Children and Families was alerted to the incident.
‘The kid knows the difference between right and wrong. He understands that this kind of lifestyle for his father isn’t what is working.’ — LAWRENCE POLICE CHIEF JAMES FITZPATRICK, right, on boy who turned in his father for dealing drugs