Erased Text Messages Reveal Couple Knew Baby Ingested Drugs, Police Say

An unemployed couple was arrested this week after authorities say the woman's 9-month-old baby ingested drugs they had in their North Jersey home.

Tara Bradbury, 23, of Wyckoff, and her boyfriend, Mark Tomat, 25, of Mahwah, were arrested this week and charged with one count each of endangering the welfare of a child, Bergen County Prosecutor John Molinelli announced in a release Friday.

According to Molinelli, the couple called 911 and brought the child to Valley Hospital in Ridgewood when he became “unresponsive” last Saturday night. The baby also had a bump on his head and was transferred to Columbia Presbyterian Hospital in New York due to swelling in his brain, Molinelli said.

When Wyckoff police officers and Division of Child Protection and Permanency agents responded to Bradbury’s Wyckoff home, they found the drug suboxone, an opioid-based drug, and drug paraphernalia in the house, authorities said. 

Both Bradbury and Tomat, who were at the house when the baby became unresponsive, said they did not know why, Molinelli said.

During an investigation into the incident, Valley Hospital doctors advised police that the baby responded to the drug Narcan, “which is administered to counteract the effect of opiates in the system,” he said.

When the couple surrendered their cell phones, cops found erased text messages of them saying they both knew the child had ingested the drugs, and they planned to deny knowing that if questioned by authorities, Molinelli said in the release.

According to authorities, Tomat was arrested at his Mahwah home on Tuesday, and Bradbury was arrested in New York Wednesday by the NYPD, and then returned to New Jersey, authorities said.

Both were remanded to the Bergen County Jail in lieu of $250,000 bail each, the release said.

Prosecutor’s Office representatives said Friday morning they did not know the condition of the baby, but were looking into getting an update on it.

The investigation into this incident was conducted by the Prosecutor’s Office and the Wyckoff Police Department.