SARASOTA COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) – Tablet camera in hand, Chris O’Quinn recorded video of two adults slumped over in a SUV at a Texaco gas station in Sarasota County.
He narrated the video: “Alright. These 2 (expletive) are nodded out, and they got two little kids in the back of the car,” he said on tape.
Sarasota deputies said William Ballard is seen in the driver’s seat, with Delaney Crissinger beside him. Both are of Manatee County.
In the back, in car seats, two girls, five and 18 months old.
“When I got closer and examined and seen there was kids in the back, I was like, I gotta call the cops,” said O’Quinn.
Security video shows the couple had pulled in hours earlier, before the sun came up.
“I just had my first daughter a week and a half ago. So it really hit a spot with me when I seen the kids in the back seat, wide awake” said O’Quinn.
Deputies and the fire department arrived.
Police reported they found meth, heroin ready for sale, and next to what looked like a bottle of baby formula, a syringe with a brown liquid inside.
Police deal with this kind of thing all the time.
“This is almost like a side-effect, where people, the drug is so powerful and it’s so important to them, they’re willing to neglect their children to do these drugs,” said Lt. Joe Giasone with the Sarasota County Sheriff’s office.
It’s reminiscent of a scene last fall in Ohio where two parents passed out with two kids sitting in the back.
For Chris O’Quinn, a quick trip to fill his tank on the way to work turned into an emotional scene.
“At first I was feeling like I kind of took a daughter from her mother, but that kid is better off anywhere else besides in a car with some junkies nodding off,” he said.
Sarasota deputies report, they also found a “drug kit” under the driver’s seat.
Inside, they found what they believe is heroin, a spoon, empty baggies, and a scale.