Rough times for S. Florida’s children
Also had 3 kids in car, report says
Sometimes, it’s tough being a kid in South Florida.
Police in Boynton Beach found more than drugs when they smashed the car windows of a suspected dealer. Inside, they said, were 70 bags of heroin – and three children, ages1, 2 and 5.
In Fort Lauderdale, police said a couple locked their child in a sweltering car while they stood outside and argued about a former lover. A doctor said the soaring temperature inside brought the 3-week-old boy to the brink of death.
The adults have been charged with crimes ranging from heroin possession to child abuse.
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Asuspected drug dealerwas nabbed while carrying 70 baggies of possible heroin, four grams of marijuana, six grams of cocaine, $4,000 in cash — and had kids ages 1, 2 and 5 in his back seat, police say.
The multi-agency bust happened Tuesday afternoon after investigators got a tip that David Coleman Jr., 23, of Delray Beach, known on the street as “Boogie,” would be at Jaycee Park, 2600 South Federal Highway in Boynton Beach, with a large amount of drugs.
Officers watched as he pulled into the park, driving a 2012 Ford Edge with dark tinted windows.
When Coleman wouldn’t unlock the SUV, agents moved in and smashed the tinted window.
And that’s when they noticed the children in the back seat, according to a Boynton Beach police arrest report.
A woman, who wasn’t identified in the report, andanother man, Eric Griffin, 29, of Delray Beach, were also in the vehicle.
The relationship of the children to those inside the vehicle was not disclosed.
Inside the SUV, investigators found the drugs andmoney, according to the report.
“The amount and location of the suspect heroinwas inreach
of the children and if the children would have been exposedtothe suspectheroin, the substance would most likely have caused great bodily harm or death,” the arrest report said.
Though Coleman said hewas unemployed, police found that hewas carrying more than $4,000 cash, according to the report.
After Coleman and Griffin were jailed, police say they heard Coleman speaking to Griffin underneath a cell door. “I should have punched it and ran, but they were on us too fast,” the report quoted him as saying.
Colemanfaces multiple drug charges.
He is also charged with child neglect. He is being held on bonds totaling $295,000.
Griffin is charged with heroin possession, and is being held without bond because of a previous arrest.