PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) — The father of a 9-year-old boy was arrested after Pinellas County deputies said they found methamphetamine in his child’s school backpack Thursday.
The incident began when the child handed his teacher two clear plastic baggies with a “crystal-like substance” inside, telling them his dad placed the baggies in his school backpack.
The teacher, unaware of what the substance was, alerted school administrators, who called law enforcement to test the substance. The substance tested positive for methamphetamine.
Authorities said the substance weighed about 9 grams.
The child told detectives he found the baggies in his backpack at school after he went to find a piece of candy.
Detectives interviewed the boy’s father, 49-year-old Joseph Dombrowsky, who claimed he did not know how the two baggies got into the boy’s book bag.
Through further investigation, deputies learned Dombrowsky had previously been arrested for drug trafficking and had used methamphetamine and ecstasy the prior weekend.
On Thursday, Dombrowsky was arrested on one charge of felony child neglect. He was sent to the Pinellas County Jail without incident.
An investigation is ongoing.