Police say an Island Park mother who had her 6-year-old son in the car with her was in possession of marijuana, hypodermic needles and what is believed to be heroin.
Authorities say Christy Crespo and her boyfriend Jonathan Delrio were parked alongside each other in a known drug location on Long Beach Road in Island Park Wednesday night.
Detectives wouldn't elaborate but say the pair was acting suspicious. When police approached the couple, they say they found 15 hypodermic needles, a plastic spoon and what they believe to be heroin in the back seat of the car. Police say the child was also in Crespo's back seat.
Crespo was charged with two counts of criminal possession of controlled substance, possession of a hypodermic instrument, endangering the welfare of a child and criminal possession of marijuana.
Delrio was charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance, possession of a hypodermic instrument and endangering the welfare of a child.
Addiction expert Jeff Reynolds says as Long Island's heroin and opioid epidemic grows, it's not just the parental addict that will need treatment. He says the children who are exposed to it must also get help.
"Those kids typically need counseling. If they don't get that counseling, then we get that multiple generational effect of addiction," says Reynolds.