POLICE SEIZE TWO-YEAR-OLD FROM DRUG HOUSE

Toddler Found In Home With Weapons, Narcotics

EDMONTON -- A two-year-old child has been taken into protective care
after being found by police in a west-end drug house.

The child was taken out of the home under the provincial Drug-
Endangered Children Act. The legislation, which came into effect Nov.
1, added protection for children and identified which ones qualified
as drug-endangered. The act strengthens police power to seize and
hold children found living where drugs are sold or produced. It also
allows family members to be charged for putting a child near a drug
operation.

Around 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, police officers pulled over a suspicious
vehicle near 156th Street and 97th Avenue. Crack cocaine was found in
the vehicle. Three of the four occupants were wanted on outstanding
warrants.

Darcy Andrew Corkey, 27, was arrested on five outstanding warrants.
Donald Hardy, 44, was charged with breach of recognizance and driving
while disqualified. He also had an outstanding warrant.

Katie Lynn Gowanlock, 23, had 16 outstanding warrants against her.
She was also charged with two counts of breach of probation and two
counts of possession of a controlled substance for the purpose of
trafficking.

The search led officers to a home near 99th Avenue and 151st Street,
which is where they found the child. Officers seized several dozen
Oxycontin tablets, one gram of cocaine, ammunition, a sawed-off
shotgun, a rifle and more than $700 in cash.

An adult male and an adult female were also in the home. Both were
taken into custody.

David Randolph Nippard, 34, was arrested on 12 outstanding warrants.
He was also charged with possession of a controlled substance for the
purpose of trafficking and several firearms-related offences.

The child's mother, a 30-year-old woman, is charged with possession
for the purpose of trafficking and several firearms-related offences.
Neither she nor the child can be identified because the child was
taken into protective custody.