43
Woman arrested after sister passes out in parking lot
By Joe Gorman
YOUNGSTOWN
Police arrested a 32-year-old Niles woman late Thursday after reports said she was trying to hide needles and spoons belonging to her sister as the sister was passed out in a South Side parking lot.
Reports said Stacey Lynn Lewis told officers after they arrived that someone in a crowd who was trying to help her sister — who was passed out after taking heroin — told her to hide the needles. That was when she was caught, reports said.
She was arraigned in Youngstown Municipal Court on a charge of possessing drug-abuse instruments before Judge Elizabeth Kobly and given a pretrial hearing date of April 17 and a bond of $2,500 cash or surety.
Police reports did not name the sister.
Police were called to a Market Street fast-food restaurant about 10:30 p.m. for a report of a woman passed out in the parking lot. When they arrived, there was a large crowd and Lewis was by the side of a vehicle.
Reports said she had snow in her hand as if she was trying to hide something. Inside a pile of snow were two socks that had a total of two spoons that had suspected heroin residue on them and seven needles.
Lewis told officers her sister went to a home on Brooklyn Avenue on the South Side and paid $60 for heroin. She then took the heroin and passed out when they were in the parking lot, reports said.
As a crowd rushed over to help, one of the people in the crowd told Lewis she should get rid of the needles and spoons, reports said.
Paramedics treated the sister and were able to revive her, reports said. She was taken to St. Elizabeth Health Center for treatment.
Lewis was taken to the Mahoning County jail, where she was held until her arraignment.