Fight in Front of Toddlers About Drug Use Leads to Charges

A local woman with a history of arrests is back in trouble with the law again after an incident last month on the Heights.

April A. Gardner, 25, of Concord, was arrested at 11:12 p.m. on March 11, and charged with three counts of possession of controlled drugs, two that were felonies, endangering the welfare of a child/incompetent, and a bench warrant.

According to an arrest report and court affidavit, a family member of Gardner’s reached out to police about a possible incident going on in an apartment at the Morning Star complex on Loudon Road involving drugs and a young child in one of the apartments.

The officer met the family member at Arnie’s across the street. He reported receiving a phone call from the father of Gardner’s child requesting his presence at the apartment, adding that he “could hear screaming over the phone.” Gardner, according to the officer, had an active warrant for nonappearance in court on March 5, on a previous drug charge.

Others came over to speak to the officer and the family member took Gardner’s daughter from the scene, according to the report.

The father alleged that in the apartment were Gardner, the woman who rented the apartment, and three other men, along with two toddlers.

“(The father) stated there was drug use (heroin) and syringes around the apartment which could have been accessible to the children,” according to the report.

According to the father, an argument ensued “over drug use around the children” between Gardner and the renter and “at one point April had syringe in her hand and (their daughter) in the other.” The father alleged that the two women then became physical and during the altercation, his daughter was trampled.

“(His) statements were all over the place but I gathered that there were multiple people inside the apartment doing drugs with young children present,” the officer wrote.

The officer called for backup and then went to the apartment. Other witnesses in the apartment confirmed the father’s allegation about the argument, fight, and Gardner allegedly holding the syringe and her daughter, with one adding that the renter threw out all of Gardner’s belongings and told her to leave.

The officer checked on the second child who was sleeping in another room and she “appeared to be in good health.” The officer added that he didn’t see any drug paraphernalia in the apartment.

A short time later, the officer located Gardner and she was arrested. A search of her property allegedly yielded six syringes, cotton swabs, spoons with suspected heroin residue, empty baggies, a scale, a glass crack cocaine pipe with residue, a small amount of marijuana, and a plastic baggie of white powder.

Gardner allegedly denied ownership of the crack pipe and the marijuana. A test of the white powder for cocaine yielded a negative result, according to the report.

Gardner refused bail and was transferred to the Merrimack County House of Corrections and was arraigned the next day.

Editor’s note: The following story was derived from information supplied by the Concord Police Department and Concord District Court. It does not indicate a conviction.