Sisters arrested after child found sipping alcohol

Deepa Bharath

Twin sisters were charged with child endangerment on Wednesday after

police reportedly found that one sister’s child had been drinking

alcohol out of a child’s cup and found the other’s child wandering

unattended, officials said.

Police got calls from passersby at about 5 p.m. Monday about a

woman lying on the grass near the intersection of Fair Drive and

Viola Street, Sgt. Bob Ciszek said.

When officers responded, they found 37-year-old Stephanie Brown

passed out and drunk on the ground with her 3-year-old son sitting in

a stroller next to her, he said.

“There was an almost empty bottle of alcohol in the stroller,”

Ciszek said. “Officers also found a sippy cup with orange juice mixed

with alcohol in the stroller.”

He said the boy had apparently been drinking the spiked juice.

Ciszek said the officers found a 2-year-old child wandering on

Fair Drive and Stephanie’s twin sister, Stacie Brown, walking toward

her sister. She was also intoxicated, he said.

The 2-year-old belonged to Stacie Brown, Ciszek said.

Both women have been charged with misdemeanor child endangerment

and an additional misdemeanor count of damaging a jail cell.

They are being held in Orange County jail in lieu of a $25,000

bail. They were arraigned at Harbor Justice Center in Newport Beach

on Wednesday.

* DEEPA BHARATH covers public safety and courts. She may be

reached at (949) 574-4226 or by e-mail at [email protected].