Woman Passed Out With Tot, Drugs In Vehicle

CLEARWATER, FL — A Tuesday afternoon call about a “person down” in Palm Harbor led to the arrest of a 36-year-old Clearwater woman. That’s because Pinellas County Sheriff’s deputies say they found the woman passed out in the back seat of her vehicle with a 3-year-old boy left partially strapped in a seat within reach of a baggie that contained prescription pills.

According to the sheriff’s office, deputies were called out to a parking lot at 35080 U.S. 19 just after noon May 2 after receiving a call about a person down. When they arrived, they say they found Tiffany Brown unresponsive in the backseat of her vehicle. They also found the boy “partially belted in the front seat,” an email from the agency said. “Deputies say the door on the child’s side of the vehicle was open and the child was screaming.”

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Paramedics were called to the scene, the agency said. They “had trouble waking Brown” at first, the email added.

During the subsequent investigation, deputies say they found a baggie of pills on the front driver’s seat “in reach of the child.” The baggie contained Alprazolam and Amphetamines, the email said.

“Brown denied that the prescription drugs were hers, but she admitted to deputies that she had taken methadone,” the email said. Brown was booked into the Pinellas County Jail on possession of a controlled substance and child neglect charges.

Deputies say the boy was in good medical condition and was released to the custody of a family member. The agency is not releasing information about Brown’s relationship to the child.

Brown remained in jail Wednesday in lieu of $6,000 bond, county records indicate.

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Booking photo courtesy of the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office