When I visit police departments and courtrooms sniffing for news every morning, I usually know what to expect.

Domestic assaults, thefts and drug arrests are most common. So are drunken driving and harassments.

But there is that one case I seldom see that knocks me off my feet.

It happened last Wednesday.

Kingston police charged a 25-year-old man with possessing a controlled substance and endangering a child. Before reading the criminal complaint and affidavit, I assumed police stopped the man for a traffic violation and found a child and an illegal drug inside the car.

Was I wrong.

After reading the arrest records, I leaned back in my chair asking myself, “How am I going to write this?”

Reporters are to be fair and objective. But I’m human like everyone else.

My first thought was, How can this man be so selfish?

Police said they found the man unresponsive inside a bathroom of a Division Street home on July 31. His lips were blue and his breathing was shallow, arrest records say. The man had overdosed on heroin. A spoon with heroin residue was found on the bathroom sink.

Police said a 2-year-old boy was standing over the man crying “Dad.”

I’ve seen the worst and best in people while covering what we in the newspaper business call the police beat, which I find to be exciting and challenging.

But there was nothing stimulating about the events that led to this man’s arrest.

There are victims here, the father and his son, not to mention the heartache on their family.

Fortunately, paramedics treated the man with a narcotic to counteract the heroin in his system.

I never understood why people would want to harm themselves by sticking a needle in their arm, snort some type of powder, or smoke something that’s been mixed with toxic ingredients.

Perhaps it’s their way to feel better, or to block feelings of guilt or shame.

We’re all in danger from illegal drug use.

Not too far away from my home, a heroin addict was captured rummaging through a woman’s purse inside her residence. He also smashed open a pin ball machine for quarters inside a pizza restaurant where I’m a customer.

What if this heroin addict entered my home looking for money?

My first reaction would be to protect my family. Who knows what his reaction would be?

I know what I would do once my family is out of harm’s way. Then I would call 911.

A few years ago, a drug deal went bad with gunfire at Maple and North Main streets in Wilkes-Barre.

Police recovered eight shell casings from a .380-caliber handgun. Two parked vehicles -- one with an infant safety seat -- were struck with bullets.

Bullets flew through windows of two residences on North Main Street.

One round passed about a foot above the head of an elderly woman sitting on her couch watching televison. Another round struck a kitchen window where a single mother of two children resided.

Arrest and court records show the Kingston man who was found unresponsive has a criminal history of drug possession, thefts and burglaries.

It appears from court records he was given several chances to redeem himself.

He not only has to redeem himself, but save his son and the rest of us.

About the Author

Ed Lewis covers police news for the Times Leader. Reach him at elewis@timesleader.com.

Ed Lewis covers police for The Times Leader. A graduate of Hanover Area, he earned a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from King’s College where he also minored in political science. He interned for Congressman Paul E. Kanjorski in Washington, D.C., while in college, and formerly was an assignment editor and managing editor before finding his niche covering the very busy police beat. His hobbies include lifting weights, kickboxing, reading, carpentry, gardening, model trains and sports, especially football.

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