Lynn man accused of driving high with two babies in the backseat

SALEM, Mass. - A Lynn man is being accused of driving under the influence of drugs while his children were in the backseat of the car.

Thanks to a Good Samaritan and his wife, police were able to quickly find the man and arrest him.

It all started when the man rang the doorbell of a family's home on Locust Street.

Jerry Ryan, a former Salem City Councilor, and his wife were first alerted by the sound of babies crying as they answered their door.

"He said, 'do you know how to get to Lynn?'" said Ryan. "He went opposite of the directions I told him to go [so] I told my wife to call the police."

Having just heard what sounded like crying babies coming from the back of the man's truck, Ryan listened to his gut instinct and followed the man in his car.

"When I heard the babies I'm like, 'someone needs to check this guy out,'" said Ryan. "He wasn't drunk, but something wasn't right."

The entire time, Ryan kept updating his wife on their location, so she could relay it to police.

"“I have kids I was like I knew that guy shouldn’t be driving with kids," said Ryan.

As officers closed in on the suspect, James Weston, his wife showed up.

“I was there 5 minutes after because I put a tracker on his phone I’m a crazy wife that’s what I am we’ve been married for 4 years," said Leighann Weston.

Weston is accused of driving under the influence of crack cocaine with his two-month-old twin boys in the back seat.

Police arrested Weston just after 6 p.m. on Saturday.

Leighann told Boston 25 News her husband's addiction struggles began long before they got married.

“My husband has been dealing with this for 20 years - he’s a veteran, he’s got PTSD," said Leighann. "This is our life, it's a true story of addiction."

She said the twin babies are now safe and sound, back in her care at their Lynn home.

Investigators said DCF was notified of the incident and had the twin boys checked out at a local hospital before being released to their mother.

Despite her husband's on-going battle with addiction, Leighann doesn't believe her husband put their little boys in danger.

"You don’t know the story, there was nothing found and the kids were safe, they were just crying," said Leighann. "What's sad is that I am now struggling to care for my kids by myself."

Police said Weston failed several field sobriety tests. Boston 25 News learned he had been off illegal drugs for eight months, but screwed up this time.

Prosecutors say that even if he posts bail on charges of child endangerment and OUI, he'll have to remain in jail due to some previous unresolved charges, including paying for sexual conduct and indecent exposure.

RELATED: Haverhill woman charged with second OUI after crashing car with 2 kids

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