Insets: Vilmarie Acosta Diaz and Arian Hernandez Hernandez. Background: The van, allegedly filled with drugs, with two kids living inside at a Florida gas station (Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office).
A Florida couple was passed out in a U-Haul van with two unsecured kids in the back, which was filled with drugs within arm's reach, cops say.
Vilmarie Acosta Diaz, 46, faces two counts of child abuse and drug-related charges, while 44-year-old Arian Hernandez Hernandez was arrested on a driving under the influence charge.
The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office said in a press release that deputies responded around 7:30 a.m. Saturday to a gas station in the 6300 block of North Dale Mabry Highway in Tampa for a call about two unresponsive people in a U-Haul van.
Deputies ordered Acosta Diaz, the kids' mother, and Hernandez, who was in the driver's seat, out of the van. Both suspects were initially unresponsive, cops said. They appeared to be "dazed, confused and disoriented" when they woke up, cops wrote in a probable cause arrest affidavit.
When Acosta Diaz exited the van, cops allegedly found a baggie containing a "white crystalline substance" that later tested positive for methamphetamine. Hernandez had red, glossy eyes and was unsteady on his feet, cops said.
There were also two children in the back of the van, which didn't have any seats.
"How long have these kids been in here?" a deputy asked in body camera footage released by the agency.
The back of the van appeared to be a living space, cops wrote. Acosta Diaz also allegedly had Xanax pills that were not prescribed to her. Deputies allegedly recovered muscle relaxers, some of which were within reach of the children.
Deputies arrested the couple. Acosta Diaz remains at the Hillsborough County Jail on a $15,800 bond, while Hernandez has a $500 bond.
"There is no excuse for this," Sheriff Chad Chronister said in a statement. "Two children, no car seats, drugs within arm's reach, and an impaired driver behind the wheel. These kids deserved better."