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A Miami mother who was allegedly found with cocaine when she was stopped in a stolen car was arrested after police said drugs were found in her young daughter’s system.
Tasheika Dennis, 35, was arrested Thursday on charges including child neglect with no great bodily harm, grand theft of a vehicle, possession of a controlled substance and driving with a suspended license, Miami-Dade jail records showed.
Miami-Dade Corrections
Tasheika Dennis
According to an arrest report, Dennis and her mother were stopped in Hialeah after they were spotted driving a stolen Hyundai Santa Fe.
Officers found cocaine in the car and a baggie containing suspected cocaine in Dennis’ tank top, the report said.
Dennis’ daughter, who was born last year, was in the vehicle in a rear passenger seat in a child restraint system.
During the stop, officers found the child wasn’t fully alert and Hialeah Fire Rescue responded and brought the child to a hospital in Miramar.
Local
At the hospital, the child underwent a toxicology screening and tested positive for amphetamine and cannabis, the report said.
Dennis was booked into jail on the charges. She appeared in court Friday before Judge Mindy Glazer, who appointed her a public defender and ordered her to stay away from her daughter, who is around 11 months old.
“I’m gonna tell you right now what the judge in dependency court is gonna tell you, prepare yourself, you’re gonna have to make a choice, your child or the drugs,” Glazer told Dennis. “You gotta get clean for the sake of your child, or the judge will find a family that will raise your child that will be in a drug free environment, so that’s a choice you gotta make.”