Three South Whidbey teenagers are accused of stealing a car and driving to California, where they allegedly ended up in the hospital after smoking marijuana laced with fentanyl, according to court records.
Island County prosecutors charged the two 16-year-old boys and one 16-year-old girl in Island County Superior Court Dec. 1 with taking a vehicle without permission in the second degree.
A parent of one of the 16-year-old students reported to the Island County Sheriff’s Office in early November that his son took a car and may be driving to Oregon with two friends, according to a deputy’s report.
The man told the deputy that he discovered his son’s bedroom window was open and the teenager was gone on the night of Nov. 2. He found a bicycle belonging to his son’s friend hidden underneath the deck.
The man said he was especially worried because the car had bad brakes, bald tires and no insurance; in addition, his son didn’t have a license. He asked that his son be listed as a runaway.
The deputy asked for an “attempt to locate” be broadcast to both Oregon and California. Soon afterward, the man learned that the three teenagers were treated at an ER in California for fentanyl exposure and were turned over to Child Protective Services in California, the deputy’s report states.