A recent crackdown on drugs in Anderson County had Lawrenceburg police finding more than just drug use. Police say they found five children in poor conditions. They say some of the kids were hungry and some even had lice.
“One was getting ready to inject the other one with heroin,” Lawrenceburg Police Chief Chris Atkins said.
Police were conducting a ‘knock and talk’ when they caught a trio in the act of using drugs. Three arrests from one household, but there were more. The chief of police credits one of his officers for really cracking down and knowing what’s going on and making multiple drug arrests.
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“Everybody here is a family man, or family person,” he said. “We’ve all got kids.”
Many of the recent arrests are impacting children of the accused drug users.
“We saw that the one car was pulled over here at the stop sign and then behind that was a police car,” Kristin Durham, a woman who lives near one of the recent arrests, explained. “We saw the fish and wildlife truck and he had his drug dog out and he was kind of bouncing a tennis ball.”
Durham and her husband watched as police arrested 32-year-old Athena Fritz for possession of methamphetamine and DUI. She had three children in the car with her.
“You just don’t do that. You just don’t. Children can’t talk for themselves.”
Those three children were among five taken from parent custody. Another couple was arrested in a similar fashion.
“They don’t have any care in the world but to just get that fix, to get that high,” Atkins said.
Police say Tracey McDowell had her two children in the car with her at Best Western when she was arrested on meth charges. Her husband, Stanley, was also charged. The kids reported not having eaten in two days.
“As far as I’m concerned in Lawrenceburg we’re as bad, if not worse, than I’ve seen it in 23 years.”
Police say none of the arrests are related.
