Santa Barbara residents Patricia Fleckser, 30, and Nathan McBrayer, 34, were arrested last Friday on felony child endangerment charges after authorities said their one-year-old son tested positive for methamphetamine at Cottage Hospital while being treated for “stomach pains” and “continuous crying.”

According to police, Fleckser and McBrayer brought their son to the emergency room late in the evening on January 4, but soon after staff started to inquire about the child’s condition and requested testing, the couple took him and fled the hospital. Cottage staff called police, who immediately located both parents at their home on the 300 block of North La Cumbre Road. Officers convinced them to return to the hospital willingly for treatment.

Once at the hospital, blood work revealed traces of methamphetamine in the child’s system. Officers interviewed both Fleckser and McBrayer and determined they had “created an environment that was detrimental to the child’s health,” police said. Both were arrested.

Detectives searching the house found several ounces of marijuana, methamphetamine, and drug paraphernalia. The parents were booked in jail on child endangerment and drug charges, and detectives called Child Welfare Services to review the case. The child is now in better health and is expected to make a full recovery.

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