New York police and other first responders saved an 11-month-old baby from a fentanyl overdose on bodycam video — and while detectives were investigating his father for the exposure, an unrelated woman died from the same batch of drugs, prosecutors say.
The boy survived, his father is facing child abuse and other charges, and the father’s dealer has been charged with the woman’s death and other crimes, Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney’s office announced Monday.
Bodycam video, taken in January but released this week, shows police arrive at a Lake Grove, New York, home and attempt to resuscitate a child who wasn’t breathing, identified only as John Doe.
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A first responder administers aid to an 11-month-old New York boy whose father is accused of exposing him to fentanyl, causing a near-fatal overdose. Rescuers were able to revive the infant, who had stopped breathing. (@SuffolkCountyDA/YouTube)
Without success, they call for an ambulance. While en route to Stony Brook University Hospital, the ambulance pulled over so a Suffolk County police medic could board with additional expertise and equipment, the video shows.
Rescuers applied Narcan, an opioid-antidote, and the child soon began crying – a positive sign.
“There we go,” one of the rescuers says, as the mother, also in the ambulance, cheers them on out of view.
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A police medic boarded the ambulance before it reached the hospital and applied Narcan as rescuers successfully got the baby to start breathing again. (@SuffolkCountyDA/YouTube)
John’s father’s identity is being withheld to protect the 11-month-old’s privacy. He has been described only as a 35-year-old man from Lake Grove. He faces charges of assault, endangering the welfare of a child and criminal possession of a controlled substance.
The alleged drug dealer, 39-year-old Robert Mauro, faces a manslaughter charge for the woman’s death along with a slew of drug-related offenses and one count of evidence tampering.
After the infant’s overdose, police searched his father’s phone and identified Mauro as the suspected supplier of the drugs, prosecutors said. While they were investigating, county police in another precinct found a 31-year-old woman dead in Patchogue. Her phone also showed alleged details of a drug deal with Mauro.
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Police and emergency responders arrive at a home in Lake Grove, New York, where an 11-month-old had stopped breathing. In a harrowing ambulance ride, they saved the child. (@SuffolkCountyDA/YouTube)
Police served a search warrant at his house in Miller Place, and he allegedly tried to throw evidence out a window, which police recovered.
Prosecutors allege that Mauro knew how potent his drugs were because in another conversation they say they found on his phone, he allegedly told someone that he was “knocked out” for hours after taking them himself.
Both men are being held without bail.
