Staff report

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Clifford Byron Trunick IV, 41, was arrested yesterday and charged with child neglect with great bodily harm and other charges after a two-month-old baby was hospitalized for cocaine and fentanyl exposure.

At about 3:48 a.m. on August 25, Alachua County Fire Rescue and Alachua County Sheriff’s Deputies responded to a call about a two-month-old baby who was in medical distress. The child was transported to the Pediatric Emergency Room at UF Health Shands, where doctors found that the distress was caused by an overdose and the baby tested positive for cocaine and fentanyl exposure. As of the writing of Trunick’s arrest report, the baby was in stable condition in the Pediatric ICU.

In an interview with deputies, Trunick reportedly said he’d had some friends over a few weeks ago, and they had consumed cocaine in his garage. Cocaine reportedly spilled on a desktop in the garage, and Trunick, who has a medical marijuana card, said the cocaine had possibly been transferred to the baby from the garage after he smoked marijuana on August 24 in the area where the cocaine had spilled.

The Department of Children and Families conducted drug screens of both parents, and Trunick reportedly tested positive for THC, alcohol, a prescription medicine, cocaine, and fentanyl; deputies concluded that Trunick was the only person who used cocaine and fentanyl and had been in contact with the baby.

A search warrant was executed on Trunick’s home, and deputies reportedly found a torn plastic bag of cocaine in the master bathroom; they also reported finding white powder around the drain and on top of the drain stop in the sink, indicating that Trunick tried to destroy the cocaine by washing it down the sink.

Trunick has been charged with child neglect with great bodily harm, two counts of possession of a controlled substance without a prescription, and tampering with evidence. He has a misdemeanor traffic conviction in Marion County but no local criminal history. Judge Meshon Rawls ordered him held without bail pending a hearing on a motion from the State Attorney’s office to hold him without bail until trial; if the judge denies the motion, bail will be set at that hearing.

Articles about arrests are based on reports from law enforcement agencies. The charges listed are taken from the arrest report and/or court records and are only accusations. All suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.