Florida sheriff releases video of unconscious couple with baby in backseat to highlight opioid epidemic

The Volusia County Sheriff’s Office on Tuesday released a video of a couple found passed out in their car in the parking lot of a convenience store in Deland, Fla., with their baby sweating in the backseat and wearing a soiled diaper, according to a report from NBC News.

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“[The baby] had not had her diaper changed in sometime (sic) as the diaper was saturated with fluids and leaking,” officers wrote of the incident in a police report cited by NBC News. “The baby appeared to be hungry. The baby cried and reached for an empty bottle when she observed the bottle.”

Sean Gannon and Kimberly McCaffrey were subsequently arrested. Police charged Mr. Gannon with driving with a suspended license after finding the keys to the vehicle were still in the ignition. Ms. McCaffrey was charged for child neglect. Deputies found a spent syringe in Mr. Gannon’s front pocket and a clear plastic baggie with white residue in Ms. McCaffrey’s left front pocket. Both items tested positive for the presence of opiates.

“This type of video is a dose of reality all of us are facing in the opioid epidemic,” Andrew Gant, a spokesman for the sheriff’s department, told NBC News. “The child is an innocent victim of it. Hopefully, this is the first day of a better life for her.”

More articles on opioids: 
Alzheimer’s disease risk not associated with opioid use  
What would it mean to declare the opioid crisis a national emergency? 5 things to know 
Georgia’s most populated county files opioid epidemic lawsuit

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