Boy’s burns lead to arrests

Okanogan County sheriff’s deputies arrested two people on drug charges Monday, a week after one of them brought her son to the hospital with chemical burns.

John W. McAlpine, 51, and Ashley J. Farrar, 21, were arrested at their home on 6 Airport Road outside Oroville. Both are charged with possession of methamphetamine.

The two are now being investigated for assault and child endangerment with a controlled substance in connection to injuries suffered by a 2-year-old boy in their home.

According to a news release, officers began investigating the pair after Farrar brought her son to Tonasket’s North Valley Hospital on Sept. 10 because he drank a chemical that burned his insides and mouth.

The boy was airlifted to Sacred Heart Medical Center, where he is undergoing treatment for his burns.

Farrar told health workers that she didn’t know what chemicals the boy drank, but she brought some of it with her.

Tests showed that the substance contained double alkali, sodium hydroxide and potassium hydroxide, which are all used to manufacture methamphetamine. Toxicology screens of the boy also showed he had methamphetamine in his system.

The test results led Okanogan County authorities to obtain a search warrant for Farrar’s home. When they served the warrant Monday they found methamphetamine but no evidence of a drug lab. Farrar and McAlpine were the only people at home at the time.

Farrar has past drug convictions for methamphetamine and marijuana, deputies said.