Police officials say a mother in Boca Raton, Florida, was arrested after she was found passed out in her vehicle from a suspected drug overdose while her 5-year-old daughter was in the back seat. ABC Action News reports that early Monday morning, a passerby called 911 after hearing a child crying from inside of a van with the windows rolled up, engine off, and the driver passed out.
It was reported that the child told the passerby that her “mommy keeps falling asleep and not waking up.” She also spoke with 911 dispatchers and said, “Last night, she fell asleep and again and again, over and over and over. I tried to wake mommy up, and she wouldn’t wake up.”
When emergency medical services arrived at the scene, they found the child inside the vehicle and she told them she “just wanted to go to school.” It was later uncovered that it was the child’s birthday.
The driver of the vehicle, identified as Colleen Nichols, was passed out from a suspected drug overdose, which prompted the Boca Raton Fire Rescue to administer Narcan, an “opioid reversal medicine,” in an effort to wake her up. When the 30-year-old responded positively to the drug, it confirmed that she had overdosed on heroin, police say.
Nichols was transported to an area hospital for treatment, but she denies using drugs. She stated that she is not using heroin and that she passed out from a panic attack, not a drug overdose. Nichols went on to say that she doesn’t know what happened and doesn’t recall getting into the ambulance or getting into her vehicle earlier that day. She says she must have blacked out as she had been under a lot of stress.
When police officials searched the vehicle, they uncovered a prescription bottle, Klonopin, that had been refilled on Sunday. It was supposed to have at least 30 pills in the bottle, but authorities say there were two left.
Nichols was arrested on child neglect charges after police say that it was more than likely she was found unconscious in her vehicle, with her daughter in the backseat, from a drug overdose since she positively responded to Narcan.
Nichols has since been released from the Palm Beach County Jail after posting a $1,000 bail and was ordered not to have contact with her daughter.
[Featured Image by Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office]