Louisiana Couple Wanted in Connection with Child Testing Positive for Cocaine Captured in Mississippi
Louisiana Couple Wanted in Connection with Child Testing Positive for Cocaine Captured in Mississippi
St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana – A Louisiana couple wanted in connection with their child testing positive for cocaine has been captured in Mississippi.
St. Bernard Parish Sheriff James Pohlmann revealed on April 4, 2023, that the St. Bernard Sheriff’s Office is awaiting the extradition of a Poydras couple wanted in connection with their child being taken from state custody in early February, following a lengthy investigation.
Arianne Stechmann, 37, and Johnathan Kritzman, 31, both of the 2200 block of West Christie Drive in Poydras, were arrested on April 4 and are being held in Mississippi at the Hancock County Jail.
The pair is awaiting extradition to St. Bernard Parish Prison, where they will be charged with obstruction of justice. The Louisiana Department of Child and Family Services has taken custody of the couple’s 2-year-old boy, who was found to be in good health.
Sheriff Pohlmann stated the couple was apprehended with the help of the United United States Marshals Service Gulf Coast Regional Fugitive Task Force in Gulfport, Mississippi, the United States Marshals Service New Orleans Task Force, and the Louisiana Department of Child and Family Services.
Sheriff Pohlmann stated that on Monday, January 30, 2023, at about 10:56 p.m., officers of the Field Operations Bureau responded to Children’s Hospital in New Orleans in relation to a 2-year-old child testing positive for cocaine in his system.
Following the suspected overdose, the juvenile was intubated and admitted to the hospital’s Pediatric Intensive Care Unit.
The Criminal Investigations Bureau filed arrest warrants for both Stechmann and Kritzman, the juvenile victim’s parents after they fled with the child from Children’s Hospital on Feb. 2 after the Louisiana Department of Children and Family Services was given emergency custody.
Sheriff Pohlmann encourages anyone with information about this incident or any other illegal behavior in St. Bernard Parish to contact the Sheriff’s Office at (504) 271-2501, the Criminal Investigations Bureau’s tip hotline at (504) 271-TIPS (8477), or Crimestoppers Greater New Orleans at (504) 822-1111.
An arrest is an indication that probable cause exists to believe the subject was involved in the offense alleged. A person is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
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