Las Vegas man accused of exposing 3-year-old to fentanyl in Newport Beach

A 41-year-old Las Vegas man has been charged with child abuse for exposing a 3-year-old boy to fentanyl in Newport Beach, prosecutors said Wednesday.

Eric Duane Bird was charged Tuesday with a felony count of child abuse and endangerment and a misdemeanor count of possession of a controlled substance. Bird pleaded not guilty Tuesday at his arraignment in the Central Justice Center in Santa Ana and was scheduled for a pretrial hearing Friday in
the Harbor Justice Center in Newport Beach.

Bird, his wife and two teenage children were in town to spend the Fourth of July weekend with relatives, according to the Orange County district attorney’s office. During their visit, a 3-year-old boy related to Bird became “extremely itchy” and was “barely breathing” as his parents were trying to put him down for the night on Friday, prosecutors said.

The boy’s parents called 911, and he was rushed to Children’s Hospital of Orange County, where he was given Narcan and recovered, prosecutors said. The victim tested positive for fentanyl, prosecutors alleged.

Police found a backpack in Bird’s rented room containing drug paraphernalia and fentanyl, prosecutors said.