Casper Police Arrest Man With Meth, Syringes on Child Endangerment Charge
A man was arrested Tuesday evening after allegedly injecting methamphetamine into his arm while a child was present in the same apartment.
Joseph Christopher Hubbard, 34, was booked on one charge of child endangerment with methamphetamine.
Court documents say Casper police officers arrived at Hubbard's apartment shortly before 5:30 p.m. Tuesday for a report of a family fight. A woman at the scene reportedly told police Hubbard had syringes and methamphetamine in the apartment.
She said a child had been inside the apartment with Hubbard while he was allegedly using methamphetamine.
As officers approached the apartment, the woman who called police handed them a black binocular case with two syringes sticking out, according to an affidavit.
The woman then handed officers a plastic bag containing needles, with several used needles reportedly atop the plastic bag. One of the needles had about 12 CCs of a "reddish tinted liquid," charging papers say.
The woman reportedly told officers Hubbard was high on meth.
She said she had recently arrived at the apartment to find the front door unlocked. She went in to find the child in his bedroom and reportedly saw Hubbard in the main bedroom with a needle in his arm, about to "shoot up."
The woman told officers, according to an affidavit, that she knew it was meth because "that was what he does." The Wyoming Department of Family Services was presently involved in an open case because of drug use, court documents say.
After the woman got home, the child reportedly went to the main apartment office and told the property manager "he was scared." They called 911.
The woman said she told Hubbard she was sick of his habit before retrieving a box of drug paraphernalia, intending to call police.
Court documents say the woman told police where the rest of Hubbard's needles could be found.
While police were on scene, the two syringes containing liquid each tested presumptively positive for methamphetamine, according to the affidavit. A police officer requested that the on-call department of family services agent get in touch regarding the situation.
The woman told police another child also lived in the apartment, but wasn't home at the time. An officer took protective custody of both children.
Hubbard reportedly refused to let officers into his apartment. Based on the evidence, officers removed Hubbard from the apartment and conducted a safety sweep. Hubbard reportedly seemed to be intoxicated.
In the apartment, police allegedly found two small baggies with white residue inside and a small white and orange zip-up purse with a blue pipe and and empty prescription bottle.
Officers note in the affidavit that the baggies were atop the toilet in the bathroom and were easily accessible to both children.
Hubbard was arrested and booked into the Natrona County Detention Center.