COPS: MAN USED SON TO TAKE DRUG TEST

A Centereach man was arrested Wednesday morning after he took his
9-year-old son out of school so the boy could provide urine for a
pre-employment drug test, Suffolk police said.

The 36-year-old dad took his son to a parking lot behind a deli on
Floyd Road in Shirley at about 10:20 a.m. to get the urine for a drug
test with a trucking company, police said.

Seventh Precinct Officers Robert Jernick and Ryan Sefton were on
patrol when they saw the child fixing his pants and watched as the
father poured something from a coffee cup, police said. When the
officers approached them, the boy told police he'd been taken out of
school and asked to urinate in the cup, police said.

The father, whose name is being withheld to protect the son's
identity, admitted he needed the urine for the test, police said.

"He was remorseful, telling the truth," Sgt. Stephen Guyer
said.

Officers found a marijuana pipe with some weed inside the father's
Ford Explorer, police said. He was arrested and charged with
endangering the welfare of a child and unlawful possession of marijuana.

The boy was handed over to his mother and Child Protective Services
was notified, Guyer said. The father was being held overnight at the
Seventh Precinct pending his arraignment in First District Court Thursday.