First-grader hands out crack cocaine, thinking it was candy

The Associated Press

Published March 21, 2005, 8:30 AM CST

School authorities say they don't expect to discipline a first-grader who found 40 small bags of crack cocaine in his school book bag and allegedly handed the drug out to his classmates, thinking it was candy.

"He was a darling little child; he had no idea of what he had," said Chicago Heights District 170 Supt. Dollie Helsel.

Chicago Heights Deputy Police Chief Michael Camilli said the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services had been contacted about the incident Friday at the Lincoln School, and the child's guardians were being sought.

"He lives in a household where apparently there's drug dealing, and when he sees these little bags of rock cocaine around the house, they're telling him it's candy," Camilli said.

Camilli called the situation "insane," and said, "I've been here 29 years; I've never seen anything like it."

Camilli said no one was harmed in the incident and police believe they retrieved all of the cocaine. He said officers believe someone at the child's home had used the book bag as a hiding place for the drug.