Iowa City Police: Drug-Dealing Mother Left Children Alone to Go to Store, Officer Observed Child Playing with Crack Rock

A police call to a residence where a mother had allegedly left her children alone while going to the store turned into a much more serious crime when an officer saw one of the children behind her playing with her merchandise.

According to an Iowa City Police criminal complaint, at 7:08 p.m. last night, officers received a 911 call from a child at an apartment at 1926 Broadway Street for a reference of a mother who had left her children alone.

When the woman Tiffany Stanton Johnson, 25, arrived home and spoke to an officer on the scene, she stated that she had left her three children home alone to go shopping at Kmart. While speaking to the woman, the officer allegedly saw her son behind her playing with a crack rock, according to the complaint.

At this, Johnson was forced to admit that she sells crack cocaine. After giving a consent search, the officer found a can with 12 grams of crack cocaine packaged for sale.

Johnson was charged with drug possession with intent to deliver, a Class C felony; possessing drugs without a drug tax-stamp, a Class D felony; allowing the possession of drugs within a home, an aggravated misdemeanor; and child endangerment with no injury.

Iowa City Police Sgt. Vicki Lalla said that the Department of Human Services were called in after the arrest to remove the children from the home.