A caseworker for Child Protective Services is accused of trying to buy heroin through a woman who was part of a CPS case.
According to court documents obtained by New Times, 35-year-old Leyla Sadikovic was in charge of the CPS case the woman was involved in, yet she asked the woman whether she could help obtain oxycodone or heroin.
See also:
-Arizona Legislature Approves $6.8 Million for New CPS Workers
The woman got police involved, saying she "was concerned for the safety of her own children and the children of other parents that this caseworker might be in charge of," court documents state.
At the direction of a Phoenix police detective, the woman sent a series of text messages to Sadikovic, and they eventually came to an agreement for Sadikovic to meet someone to purchase $200 worth of heroin, according to the documents.
She ended up meeting an undercover detective at a Circle K near 52nd Street and McDowell Road. The detective took a file folder from Sadikovic containing $200 cash, and the detective put the "heroin" -- actually just some candy wrapped in tinfoil -- back in the folder and handed it back to Sadikovic, the documents state.
According to the court documents, Sadikovic asked the undercover detective, "Can I eat the file?" Police believe she was indicating that she was going to take the heroin orally.
At that point, a team of officers waiting for the exchange to go down went in and arrested Sadikovic.
According to the court documents, Sadikovic has been working for CPS for a year.
Phoenix Police Sergeant Trent Crump says Sadikovic also took a government-issued vehicle to the deal.
However, while being interviewed by investigators Sadikovic said she did the deal "as part of her duties with CPS and investigating her clients," Crump says.
Sadikovic was booked into jail on one count of attempted narcotic-drug possession, a felony.
Crump says CPS' internal affairs investigators are cooperating fully with police.
Sadikovic is not the first CPS employee to be arrested in the last year, and everything related to Arizona's CPS is certainly receiving extra scrutiny since it was discovered a few months ago that the agency had essentially ignored more than 6,500 allegations of child abuse and neglect. An initial investigation into the failure to investigate cases found that there was just too much work for the caseworkers to keep up with. The Legislature has since approved nearly $7 million for the hiring of more CPS workers immediately, with more funding likely on the way.
Got a tip? Send it to: Matthew Hendley.
Follow Valley Fever on Twitter at @ValleyFeverPHX.
Follow Matthew Hendley at @MatthewHendley.
