Police: Parents pass out from heroin in Niles parking lot

Staff report

NILES

Parents of an 8-year-old girl are expected to face charges after reports said they were found passed out about 5:20 p.m. Thursday in a parking lot from a suspected heroin overdose.

Reports said police and fire personnel were called to a 5121 Youngstown-Warren Road parking lot after the girl walked into a store and told employees her parents were asleep in their van and would not wake up.

It took several doses of the anti-opiate drug Narcan to revive the couple, reports said.

Reports said the 44-year-old man told police he and the 31-year-old woman used heroin.

Reports listed the couple as the girl’s parents even though they have different last names. They will be identified when they are officially charged.

Reports said a member of Trumbull County Children Services Board was called to the scene and took custody of the child after speaking to a woman who said she was the aunt of the child.

Melinda Brown, a nurse who once worked in an emergency room, was there and filmed the police and firefighter response in the parking lot. She said Thursday evening that an employee went to check on the girl’s parents and was “distraught,” when she did.

Brown said later, the girl’s aunt sent her a message online thanking her for praying for the girl’s parents.

“I don’t think people who have been touched by addiction understand the magnitude of the problem,” Brown said.