SARASOTA, Fla. (WFLA) – A mother and father were caught on camera, passed out in the front seat of their SUV in Sarasota County last week.
The man is at the wheel and the woman’s head is seen bobbing up and down as she is slumped over in the passenger’s seat.
Their little girls, 18 months and five months old, were in car seats in the back.
Detectives said the parents were high after shooting up, and were surrounded by heroin, meth, needles, a scale and a spoon. Investigators said they also found a syringe filled with a dirty brown liquid near a bottle of baby formula.
The SUV was parked at a Sarasota Texaco gas station on January 19th. Store surveillance shows the couple had pulled in hours before.
Good Samaritan Chris O’Quinn couldn’t believe what he saw. He grabbed his tablet and began taking video, documenting the scene. He quickly called 911 and told them to send an ambulance.
CALLER: “They’re completely passed out with two children in the back seat. I suggest you roll an ambulance here. These people don’t look good.”
DISPATCHER: “Okay, just stay. I do have an ambulance on the way. Just stay on the line. I have a couple of questions if you know the answer to them. Are you with them now?”
CALLER: “I’m looking at them inside their car.”
William Ballard and Delaney Crissinge, both Manatee County residents, remain jailed
Both face charges, including child neglect and drug possession. Ballard has an arrest record that dates back to 2013.
8 on Your Side began investigating how something like this happens.
William Ballard’s grandmother was located in Ellenton.
“We’re all praying that he’ll get …his dad, his dad told him he needs to get extensive treatment,” she said.
She said that he had cleaned up his act at one point while doing fencing work with his father, but soon went back to drugs.
“He loves his children… you know, he’s trying to do what he can. You’ve got to have help, I mean, you can’t go on like this, you gotta have help. I mean, strong help.”
The girls are now in the care of the Department of Children and Families.
