By Shavonne Walker

shavonne.walker@salisburypost.com

SALISBURY — A Woodleaf couple were charged with heroin possession after an officer getting gas at a convenience store spotted them passed out in their car.

The couple had a toddler in the hot car when police found them, officials said.

Salisbury Police charged Jessie Lee Hastings, 27, and David Wayne Hastings, 31, both of the 10400 block of Deport Road, with felony possession with intent to manufacture, sell and deliver a controlled substance schedule I, misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia, and misdemeanor child abuse.

Both remain in the Rowan County Detention Center, each under a $15,000 secured bond.

The incident occurred around 2 p.m. in the Sheetz parking lot on Friday. The officer first noticed the car was parked in front of the car wash and had been sitting there a while. The officer said the two had their heads down and she decided to check on them. When the officer approached the car, she saw a man and woman slumped over as if passed out, said Police Capt. Melonie Thompson.

The man, who was in the passenger’s seat, had a syringe in his right hand pressed to his left arm. The driver, Jessie Hastings, was also passed out. The child, who appeared to be a 2-year-old, was sweating profusely, crying and kicking the back of the seat, but her parents did not wake up.

The car was running, the officer noted, but the air conditioning didn’t seem to be working properly and the windows were rolled down. The officer woke the two and placed the child in an air-conditioned patrol car.

Police searched the Honda Civic and found syringes, cotton swabs, spoons and butane. Police also found a duck call with a white powder substance on it that later tested positive for crack cocaine.

Jessie Hastings admitted to officers that they had just finished doing heroin, Thompson said.

The two were arrested in May after authorities said they stole items from Walmart, tried to return them for money and were found with pills, syringes and other drug paraphernalia.