Toddler Found in Car During Heroin Buy, Police Say

This post was reported and written by Jack Tobias.

A 2-year-old girl was inside a car when Nazareth police made a controlled buy of heroin from people inside the car Monday afternoon, court records say.

Police later charged the girl’s mother and a man – both of whom were inside the car.

The mother’s file states that she has “never [been] in trouble before.” But online court records show two previous sets of charges filed in Easton – one of them for a June 2 incident.

Police also took into custody a man involved in the controlled buy and two women. One of the women will be charged later, borough police Chief Thomas Trachta said Tuesday.

Charged was Tasha Lynn Hornbaker, 31, of 30 Heckman St., Phillipsburg. Also charged was Terrence L. Horton, 46, of Easton and formerly of Trenton, N.J.

Police recovered the $300 used in the controlled buy and confiscated 65 packets of heroin, seven bags of marijuana and $597 in cash in addition to the $300 used to buy the heroin, the records say.

Borough Officer Benjamin Rizzotto writes in a criminal complaint that a police investigation found that Hornbaker “frequents” Nazareth to sell heroin. Her car was suspected to be a gray Pontiac sedan.

The complaint also says:

—Borough Officer Daniel Troxell spotted a gray car with Pennsylvania license plates around 5 p.m. Monday near the Rite Aid at 102 Easton Road (Route 248). The man involved in the controlled buy approached the car. The transaction was with Horton, who was sitting in the front passenger seat.

—Troxell, Rizzotto and Trachta converged on the car. The girl was in a child seat directly behind Horton.

—Troxell recovered $280 of the $300 used in the controlled buy from the space between the front passenger seat and the center console. Trachta recovered the other $20 from Hornbaker while she was in the Rite Aid.

—The $597 that Trachta found in the wallet consisted of a $50 bill, 22 twenties, eight $10 bills, five $5 bills and two $1 bills.

—Troxell recovered 20 packets of heroin from the right front pocket of the man involved in the controlled buy. Rizzotto recovered 45 packets of heroin and seven bags of marijuana from Horton.

A fact sheet in Horton’s file lists his address as Safe Harbor, a shelter in Easton. It also says he has lived in Easton since 2003 and that his former address was on Brunswick Avenue in Trenton.

The sheet also says he has been in state prison in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

Hornbaker, meanwhile, is facing two previous sets of charges out of Easton. Both accused her of false identification to a law enforcement officer, driving without a license and driving without a valid inspection.

The incidents occurred March 29 and June 2, the records say.

In the Nazareth case, Hornbaker was charged with prohibited acts, three counts of criminal conspiracy and endangering the welfare of children.

Horton was charged with prohibited acts, one count of criminal conspiracy, endangering the welfare of children, possession of a controlled substance and possession with intent to deliver drug paraphernalia.

They were arraigned Tuesday by on-duty District Judge John Capobianco of Nazareth and committed to Northampton County Prison in lieu of $10,000 bail for Hornbaker and $25,000 bail for Horton.