Baby tests positive for cocaine in Tulare County, parents arrested

The parents of a 9-month-old were arrested Tuesday after the infant tested positive for cocaine at a hospital in Tulare County, police said.

The Tulare County Sheriff’s Office received a call shortly before 5 a.m. from a hospital reporting that a child tested positive for cocaine. The couple had initially brought the baby into the emergency room for a high fever. But after several tests, hospital staff determined the baby tested positive for the narcotic, authorities said in a news release.

Detectives executed a search warrant at the couple’s home in Lindsay, where they found narcotics and two other children, whose ages were not provided by the sheriff’s office. It is not clear how the infant came into contact with the cocaine.

Ashley Flores, 29, and Casey Willibanks, 32, were arrested on suspicion of child endangerment and possession of illicit narcotics, according to the sheriff’s office.

Child Welfare Services removed the children from the home, officials said.