State police alert child welfare officials after mother’s heroin arrest

Vermont State Police called in officials from the state Department for Children and Families after a 5-year-old child was found sitting on top of close to 700 bags of heroin found Saturday under the back seat of her mother’s car.
http://rutlandherald.com/article/20140204/NEWS02/702049953/1003

Published February 4, 2014 in the Rutland Herald State police alert child welfare officials after mother’s heroin arrest By SUSAN SMALLHEER Staff Writer BRATTLEBORO — Vermont State Police called in officials from the state Department for Children and Families after a 5-year-old child was found sitting on top of close to 700 bags of heroin found Saturday under the back seat of her mother’s car. Windham County State’s Attorney Tracy Kelly Shriver said Monday that Eugenia Emerson, 33, of Springfield, was originally ordered held for lack of $5,000 bail, cash or surety. Shriver said Emerson posted the required $500 and was released from state prison in Springfield after her arrest Saturday evening. She will be back in court in March. Shriver said Vermont State Police Trooper Ryan Wood called state child welfare officials about the child, who was found to be sitting on the seat of the vehicle car seat, beneath which were 690 heroin packets. Shriver said the bail amount had been set by Judge David Suntag. She said any further information about the status of the child is confidential under state law. Emerson’s car, a 2001 Saab, had been stopped for defective equipment on Interstate 91 at about 6:30 p.m. Saturday. A Vermont State Police drug dog had been aroused by the presence of drugs in Emerson’s car, and Emerson gave police permission to search her vehicle, according to police. A posting on the Springfield Police Department’s Facebook page about Emerson’s arrest reported that a woman by the name of “Genia Emerson” said she had been arrested by police, jailed and had been released from jail. But she said she had no idea the drugs were in her car and she didn’t do drugs and wouldn’t expose her children to drugs. Eugenia Emerson’s husband, Jesse Emerson, was one of three dozen Springfield residents arrested last June as part of Operation Precision Valley, a multi-police-agency sweep of drug suspects from the Springfield area. He was charged with sale of cocaine and accessory to a charge of heroin sales. Eugenia Emerson was cited with felony heroin trafficking Saturday and was given a court date in about two months, March 18. She was also given a written warning for a marked lane violation and defective equipment. Eugenia Emerson was the driver of a car involved in a drug bust in November. She was not charged with drug offenses at that time, and according to court records, she had been asked to drive Devin Pratt, who had just gotten out of the state prison in Springfield, to KFC in Brattleboro. Pratt, 24, of Springfield, was charged with possession of heroin, possession of narcotics and possession of hallucinogenic drugs. His friend, Juliane K. Tamasi-Bowers, 34, also of Springfield, was charged with possession of heroin. Police said they had stopped Emerson for speeding in Rockingham on Interstate 91, and later found heroin in a pack of cigarettes and in a “Monster Energy” can. The drugs which were traced to Tamasi-Bowers and Pratt, according to court records. susan.smallheer @rutlandherald.com t