ST. GEORGE — Police took a 25-year-old-woman into custody after police found her passed out on a bathroom floor with drugs.

At 10 a.m. Saturday, according to a probable cause statement signed by J. Borrowman on behalf of St. George Police Officer Vincent Lusk, Lusk responded to an unknown call to a residence on 2370 South where he discovered an unresponsive female on the bathroom floor.

“I had to use force to enter the bathroom,” the officer’s probable cause statement said. “I was able to enter the room without harming the female and causing minimal damage to the door.”

Upon entering the room, the officer found Paige Anderson, of St. George, on the ground and a silver spoon in the sink, the statement said. The spoon had a dark substance on it, as well as some on the sink itself. A white lighter was also discovered lying on the ground.

Anderson was alone in the house with her 6-year-old son, St. George Police Sgt. Sam Despain said. The boy was located somewhere else in the home and not in the bathroom with Anderson. Gold Cross Ambulance responded and transported Anderson to Dixie Regional Medical Center in St. George to be evaluated.

While at the hospital, the officer found that there was enough suspected heroin on the spoon to charge Anderson with possession of a controlled substance along with drug paraphernalia, according to the probable cause statement. He also concluded that she could be charged with a third offense involving her 6-year-old son.

“ … The child’s age make him disabled and the care taker failed to provide supervision, care or medical care for the child,” the probable cause statement said applying the circumstances to Utah law.

The residence Anderson was found in was also near to a church, so the drug charges against her were enhanced to a second-degree felony due to her being within a drug-free zone.

Anderson was charged by the County Attorney with a second-degree felony for possession of heroin, one third-degree felony for abuse-neglect of a disabled child and one class A misdemeanor for possession of drug paraphernalia.

This means, Despain said, that even though the child does not have a disability, because of the boy’s age, the charges still apply. While these charges are not very common in drug-related cases, they are used in situations such as this where there is a child directly affected.

Despain said:

We’re just grateful that the child is okay, and we’re grateful that Paige is okay.

According to Utah court documents, Anderson is currently serving a 36-month probation after she pleaded guilty to a third-degree felony for possession of heroin in September 2014. Since her arrest on Saturday, according to current booking information, Anderson was released on her own recognizance for those three charges, but remains in custody on a 72-hour hold for violating the terms of her probation.

Persons arrested or charged are presumed innocent until found guilty in a court of law or as otherwise decided by a trier-of-fact.

Related Posts

• Task force nabs alleged meth dealer
• Police collar suspect in rash of Mesquite burglaries
• Police track trio in car at alleged drug house; traffic stop leads to arrest
• Police seek public’s help identifying truck

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @STGnews

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2015, all rights reserved.