Child swallows cocaine after Newark dad allegedly tells son that drugs were "candy"

James Queally

The Star-Ledger 

September 18, 2009, 11:50PM

The dangerous miscue occurred because the child's father, Shaheed Wright, 25 of East Orange, told his son the drugs were candy after he hid several bags of cocaine in his son's jacket following an alleged run-in with Newark police, according to city police spokesman Detective Todd McClendon.

Wright was arrested at his South Munn Avenue residence this afternoon and charged with one count of endangering the welfare of a child, possession of a controlled substance and possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute.

The children, identified as one girl and three boys, were all four years of age. A teacher at the daycare center had the children taken to Beth Israel around 9:30 a.m. when they noticed the girl had a foreign object in her mouth, which was later identified as a small plastic bag filled with cocaine, McClendon said.

Wright's son later told police that his father gave him the cocaine and told him the bags were actually "packets of candy," according to McClendon. Friday morning, when classmates asked the young boy for candy, he unknowingly distributed the cocaine to his friends.

Hospital tests indicated that only one of the children actually swallowed the cocaine, according to McClendon. That child was treated and released on Friday.

McClendon said the Division of Youth and Family Services is expected to conduct a separate investigation into the incident.

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Newark 4 year old passes out cocaine at daycare thinking it was candy

James Queally

The Star-Ledger

September 19, 2009, 9:21PM

photo courtesy of Newark PoliceShaheed Wright, 25, of East Orange, was arrested Friday after allegedly putting cocaine in his 4-year-old son's pocket after a brush with police. One classmate of the child ingested the cocaine.

NEWARK -- Shaheed Wright feared police were closing in on him, authorities say, so he hid his bags of cocaine in his son’s jacket pockets, telling the child that it was candy.

And when the boy arrived at his daycare center in Newark on Friday morning, he did what any other 4 year old might: The boy handed the white powder out to his friends.

One girl ate it.

She was rushed to Beth Israel Medical Center in Newark along with Wright’s son and two other boys from the day care suspected of eating cocaine. They all turned out to be fine and were released to their parents, according to Todd McClendon, a spokesman for Newark Police.

Wright, meanwhile, was arrested Friday afternoon in the hallway of his apartment building on South Munn Avenue in East Orange. The 25-year-old man is accused of endangering the welfare of a child, possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute and other charges, including employing a juvenile in a narcotics scheme.

He emerged shackled yesterday from Newark Police Headquarters, his hair in long dreadlocks, his face downcast. When asked if he wanted to say anything to the parents of the other children, he looked up for a moment.

"I apologize deeply," Wright said.

He is being held on $400,000 bail and scheduled to be arraigned Monday morning in Superior Court in Essex County.

The children were identified only as a girl and three boys, all 4-years old.

A teacher at Clinton Avenue Daycare Center first noticed the girl had something odd in her mouth at about 9:30 a.m. Friday, police said. The teacher looked closer and noticed a small plastic bag filled with the white powder.

Then, she called an ambulance.

It turned out only the girl actually swallowed the cocaine, McClendon said.

The center, a three-story townhouse near Lincoln Park, was closed yesterday. Attempts to reach the owner were unsuccessful.

Authorities suspect Wright shoved the cocaine into his son’s pockets following a "near brush" with police. McClendon said he was unable to elaborate on when or where the encounter occurred.

But when they searched the boys’ pockets, police found multiple bags of cocaine, McClendon said.

The Division of Youth and Family Services plans to conduct a separate investigation into the incident, McClendon said. A spokeswoman for the agency said state law did not allow her to comment on the status of the investigation.