WASHINGTON, Pa. — A man took his 3-year-old daughter Thursday into the restroom at a McDonald’s in Washington and found a man on the floor, overdosing on heroin, police said.
Jack Buel spoke to Channel 11 News on Friday about the incident at the fast-food restaurant on Jefferson Avenue.
“A 3-year-old shouldn't see something like that,” he said.
Buel said he thought he and his daughter were the only ones in the restroom, but he found the stall door was locked. He said that’s when his daughter noticed someone on the floor.
“Her being a nosy 3-year-old, she peeked under the door and said, ‘Why is somebody sleeping on the floor?’” Buel said.
Police identified the unconscious man as Christopher Pastore of Brownsville.
“My first thought was, ‘I got to get my daughter out of the bathroom, and I've got to tell somebody,’” Buel said.
Authorities said when officers arrived at the McDonald’s, Pastore was alert and bleeding from his head.
Officers said they found an empty needle and stamp bag in the restroom. They concluded that Pastore injected the heroin, passed out and hit his head.
“You don't ever expect that to happen, but with the way things have been going, that could have been any McDonald’s, any restaurant (or) any restroom,” Buel said.
The father said his daughter has not said much about what she witnessed, but he said one thing came out of the incident.
“If she wouldn’t have looked under there, I would have walked out of there and had my wife take her to the bathroom. And he probably would have been dead,” Buel said.
He said his other daughter wanted to tell the story at school Friday to let people know her sister may have saved a life.
Police said Pastore was already on probation before Thursday’s incident. He was taken to a hospital for treatment and later released to a constable.
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