Cops: Dad overdoses, his 5-year-old calls police
Thinking her "daddy" was dead, a 5-year-old girl called Upper Darby police last night, who responded to her home and determined her father had passed out from a heroin overdose
Cops: Dad overdoses, his 5-year-old calls police
Stephanie Farr
Thinking her "daddy" was dead, a 5-year-old girl called Upper Darby police last night, who responded to her home and determined her father had passed out from a heroin overdose.
"A 5-year-old daughter witnessing her father overdosing on drugs - that's something she'll remember forever," said Upper Darby Police Superintendent Michael Chitwood.
Around 9:30 p.m., the girl called 911 and said her "daddy" had fallen off of a chair in the basement, had blood on his eye and she couldn't wake him up. Police said when they arrived at the house on Vernon Road, it was the little girl who let them in the door and led them to her father, Jason Feranti, 31.
Police were able to shake Feranti awake and on a desk nearby they found two syringes, a bent spoon, a cotton ball, numerous torn plastic baggies and blue wax paper, all of which are items used to inject heroin, Chitwood said.
"He had been shooting up and passed out in front of her," Chitwood said. "There's no conscience, there's no sense of responsibility and there's certainly no common sense."
Feranti was charged with endangering the welfare of a child, recklessly endangering another person and drug offenses. He remains at the Delaware County Prison, according to police.
The girl was placed in the custody of her grandmother and Delaware County Children and Youth Services was notified on the incident, Chitwood said.
"The sad thing is it just goes to show you the scourge of heroin abuse. They don't care," he said. "What the hell happens if she gets a hold of the needle or swallows something?"
Chitwood said last night's incident is emblematic of a much bigger problem in Upper Darby. Just last May, a 4-year-old boy who was found wandering alone and sobbing in the 69th Street Terminal led police to his dad, who had passed out from a heroin overdose in a terminal bathroom.
Between Jan. 1, 2011 and May 3 of this year, there have been 19 overdose deaths in Upper Darby, 14 of which were directly related to heroin and the rest of which can be attributed to pills and other drugs. In the same time period, there were 101 overdose cases in which victims survived, 66 of which were directly related to heroin, police said.
"The heroin problem is epidemic out here and it leads to other crimes," Chitwood said. "When we catch burglars and debrief them it's heroin addicts who are doing the reaping and pillaging."
Why not legalize heroin ?? This could've easily happened to an alcoholic.You never know what your getting on the street.But what do i know ?? Im just a libertarian who thought our 4 fathers had it right.I just cant believe people cant ingest a substance and just tax it,make money.Save money,and lower crime.I know im an idiot.— CaptainHowdy- Sleaze bag!
— Jimmy CrackHead - Legalize heroin?Hope he gets clean and then give him his child back? He should never get his child back because heroin addicts never get and stay clean. They are chronic relapsers and always will be chronic relapsers. As a former D&A counselor I can attest to that. Legalize heroin? It's called methadone treatment. We the taxpayers shell out big bucks every year so that addicts can get their daily dose and nod out on methadone legally.— ahorsham8
- I couldn't care less if this selfish piece of pond scum gets help. He can rot in an alley for all I care. I hope his poor daughter gets the help that she needs in a new set of parents.— kenny.328.usa
- Can we get a few GOOD OLE BOY RACISTS to comment on this GREAT GUY?! The SILENCE IS GOLDEN.— phillygtown
- 99.9% of people with neck tattoos are trash.— gordon7
- Like Mao in Shanghai kill all the drug pushers and users. No mercy.— joedog
- And carrying this trauma, when the girl's PSSA test scores tank, I'm sure all the education experts will blame the lazy, overpaid teachers.
Phony arguments from phony people.— Yodude2 
Comment removed.- "reaping and pillaging"? Does that mean simultaneously harvesting a crop and wrecking a village?— Jen D
- Don't you love how some people on this board have turned this into a black/white issue. How SAD!!!!— John Paul George Ringo
- Americans buy their own weapons of mass destruction. Families are being ruined like never before. What is happening to this country?— denjamr
Glad to see a cop held accountable for his actions in the other article. No comments taken there. You can't trust the cops!- This guy is a real class act. Too bad he involved his daughter in his insanity. Revoke his parental rights until he is clean and has demonstrated enough responsibility to be a parent again.— bling
- Wheres the mother? At least she's a smart little one. God Bless her.— Showtime226
- Pinned. Still high.— TheodorePikul
- Neck tattoo? Check.— maldorer
- Castrate him so he can't abuse, neglect, traumatize any more children.— ptahan
- How sad. He should lose custody of his child and get clean. I assume the mother is not much better off since the child is going to grandparents. This is epidemic in all neighborhoods with all incomes. It starts with Oxycontin, Percocet, and Vicodin and moves on to heroin since it is so much cheaper. When will the government start asking the pharmaceuticals questions about the exponential increases in sales of their pain killers? With all scripts on computers it would be easy to see the doctors who are over prescribing, and patients shopping for scripts to sell/abuse. There is so much money it is I guess nobody really wants the truth.— citizen zen
- It should be mandatory that this guy enters some form of rehab. Yes, addiction is a vicious cycle, but it should be offered to anyone seeking help who's been arrested under these circumstances. They should also legalize the drug. The Chitwoods of the world know they will N-E-V-E-R stop it. EVER. It's big business with way too much money being made. If it's legalized they could control the market and the purity of the drug and eliminate the middleman ( drug dealer ). In fact, it would be cheaper to give the stuff away to the users then what it cost to keep them in the prison system for the crimes they commit to get the money for the drugs. Now if only they'd change the prison system "for profit" mentality.— WBFO
- Good call Sparky2212. Drugs are bad and this is very sad.— fire fighter
- People need to stop accepting that their friends are doing heroin, especially with their child present. Call the cops on them. And yes, there is an epidemic in Upper Darby. This is right down the street from where that girl got in trouble for somethign to do w/ heroin while she had her kid w/ her. And not more than a mile away from where the guy beat his girlfriend last week.
Although its worth pointing out, this stuff happens ALL OVER THE PLACE, not just in UD. Its just that not every township's police chief phones it in to the press every time it happens....— KingOfPhilly - Comment removed.
- I hope he gets help.— sparky2212
- Vernon Rd is in Drexel Hill. It's a lot of people that look like they're using on that side of Drexel Hill, and they all look like him.— DREXHILLMOM
- Are we sure this man did anything wrong? After all, he *is* white.— Middle_Class
- At four years old the little girl is young enough to be adopted by a loving family. I hope that is what happens and he is stripped of his parental rights.— Wednesday
- At four years old the little girl is young enough to be adopted by a loving family. I hope that is what happens and he is stripped of his parental rights.— Wednesday
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- White trash .
— Joe R. - Comment removed.
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- Amen to that, Travis. Now how much to drive me to the airport? — Middle_Class
- I'm sorry that little girl saw that. My aunt died of an overdose and my cousin found her when she was 12. I pray the father gets help and the little is tended to in a loving home.— suzuka22
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