LEESBURG FIRST-GRADER FOUND WITH COCAINE

Leesburg - A first-grader was found with a bag of cocaine in class
that contained enough of the drug to possibly kill a small child,
according to police.

Authorities said the 6-year-old boy had a plastic bag containing a
half a gram of cocaine at Beverly Shores Elementary School on Tuesday.

"It's sad that you had a first-grader carrying drugs of any kind on
campus," Leesburg police Capt. Ginny Padgett said.

A classmate of the boy who had the drug told a teacher that the boy
was telling others that it was sugar or dope, police said.

"And (the teacher) called him to the front of the classroom and had
him hand it over to her," Padgett said. "It came out positive for cocaine."

The child claims he found the cocaine when he was playing at the
Spring Harbor apartment complex in Mount Dora.

However, he also said another student may have slipped it into his
pocket.

Deputies are questioning the boy's family and friends to find out if
maybe he took it from an adult.

"Is he a victim and come across something bad like drugs that could
have killed him or did he know what he was doing?" Padgett said.

"So far, no charges are pending in the case," Local 6's Jessica
D'Onofrio said.

The Department of Children and Families is investigating.