Utah couple tried to hide newborn’s addiction by giving her drugs, police say

ELK RIDGE, Utah (KSL) — An Elk Ridge man and woman have been arrested following a disturbing monthlong investigation in which detectives say they discovered the couple gave drugs to their newborn while still in the hospital, and their other young children also tested positive for drugs.

Colby Glen Wilde, 29, and his common-law wife, Lacey Dawn Christenson, 26, have been arrested twice during the ongoing investigation, accused of crimes ranging from drug possession to child endangerment and child abuse.

The investigation began June 26 when Spanish Fork police responded to a theft at a Wal-Mart. With his 2-month-old daughter in a car seat, Wilde took items off the shelves and then brought them to customer service as if he had already purchased them, looking for a refund, said Utah County Sheriff’s Sgt. Spencer Cannon.

As Wilde attempted to leave the store, he was approached by security. Wilde attempted to run out of the store while carrying the car seat. Cannon said he ran into the sliding glass doors at the entrance of the store and dropped the car seat — causing it and his daughter to roll several times. Wilde picked up the car seat and continued running, but hit a pillar and dropped the seat again, he said.

As bystanders tried to stop Wilde, he handed the car seat with his child to a stranger and ran to his car to escape, the sergeant said. Wilde was stopped by police a short time later and arrested for investigation of child abuse, theft, DUI, heroin and meth possession, and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Christenson was also in Wal-Mart at the time with her three boys, ages 8, 4 and 2. She was arrested on an outstanding warrant.

On June 28, while Wilde and Christenson were in jail, Utah County sheriff’s deputies were contacted by a woman who had been asked to watch the couple’s pets. The woman went to their house, found drug paraphernalia and called police, according to Cannon.

Deputies served a search warrant on the house and found numerous drug and paraphernalia items, he said.

As the investigation into the couple continued, the deputy assigned to the case “learned from (the Utah Division of Child and Family Services) that the two younger boys and the infant girl all tested positive for methamphetamine. The infant also tested positive for heroin and morphine,” according to Cannon.

Christenson was released from jail on June 28 and Wilde bailed out July 5. After their release, investigators learned the two may be doing drugs again so they drew up another warrant. Cannon said when deputies served it on Tuesday, they found Wilde inside his residence smoking heroin.

“Between the June 28 and July 18 warrants, investigators learned that Christenson had been heavily using heroin and prescription pain medication during her pregnancy. Because of that, her child, born on April 9, 2017, was born addicted to drugs,” Cannon said.

Detectives also learned that while Christenson was still in the hospital after giving birth, she and Wilde crushed up Suboxone — a prescription pain medication used for pain management and for addiction treatment — and rubbed it on the newborn’s gums in an effort to conceal signs of drug addiction from hospital staffers, according to Cannon.

Wilde pleaded guilty Tuesday to charges of child endangerment, a third-degree felony, and drug possession, a class B misdemeanor. He will be sentenced Aug. 29.

Wilde is still facing charges of drug possession and DUI from the June 26 incident, according to court records.

Christenson was charged July 7 in 4th District Court with child endangerment, a third-degree felony, plus drug possession and possession of drug paraphernalia, class B misdemeanors. Her initial court appearance is set for Aug. 22.

This article was originally published by KSL.com. It is used here with permission.