ELK RIDGE, UTAH (WHDH) — A mother and father in Utah have been arrested for allegedly giving drugs to their newborn daughter just hours after she was born.
According to the Utah County Sheriff’s Office, Colby Glen Wilde, 29, and Lacey Dawn Christenson, 26, put crushed-up painkillers on their infant’s gums to try to hide the symptoms of addiction from hospital staff.
Christenson had reportedly been using heroin and prescription pain medication heavily throughout her pregnancy.
They admitted that soon after their daughter was born on April 9, Wilde applied some of the crushed Suboxone pills to the infant’s gums while nurses and other medical staff were out of the room. Wilde and Christenson told investigators they talked to friends about how to mask signs of drug dependence in an infant, and that they discussed this issue with each other.
Police were first contacted following an incident in a local Walmart in which Wilde was attempting to return merchandise that he had not purchased.
When he was confronted by the store’s loss prevention team he tried to run away dropping his infant daughter twice before handing her to a stranger and taking off in his car.
Wilde was later arrested for possession of heroin and methamphetamine, drug paraphernalia, and driving without car insurance.
Christenson was left in the Walmart with her three young sons ages 8, 4 and 2. She was arrested for an outstanding warrant.
Spanish Fork Police Department then contacted the Utah Division of Child and Family Services who placed all four children in the custody of the eldest son’s father. Wilde and Christenson are the parents of the youngest three children.
While in jail the police received a tip from the woman who was contacted to care for the pair’s animals reporting various drug paraphernalia all around the home, including next to a bassinet and a child’s sippy cup.
The parents were then charged with four counts of child endangerment.
Wilde and Christenson were released on bail on July 5. However, investigators received another tip that the two were using again and acquired another search warrant. When investigators conducted the search they found Wilde smoking heroine.
Both were taken back into custody where police found traces of methamphetamine and opiates in their systems.
They were charged with distribution of a controlled substance in a drug free zone, possession by use of heroin and methamphetamine, endangerment of a child and possession of drug paraphernalia.
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