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Women jailed after teen overdoses on drugs, alcohol & energy drinks
Posted: 07.08.2011 at 10:18 AM
Marcy Martinez

Marcy Martinez is an anchor and reporter for Action 4 News.

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A night at a Harlingen bowling alley turned into a near-death experience for a local teen after combining drugs, alcohol with energy drinks.

The adults who allegedly supplied her with the substances are facing charges.

Cameron County Sheriff’s Department deputies arrested 22-year-old Ruby Ann Garcia and 32-year-old Erica Guzman on Wednesday.

A 16-year-old girl went bowling in Harlingen but ended up partying at Guzman's house where the next morning she was rushed to the emergency room after experiencing convulsions.

A probable cause affidavit explains what happened the night of June 10th that nearly killed the girl.

According to the affidavit, the teen was with Garcia and was supplied alcohol, marijuana and ecstasy pills.

The teen also drank “crunk juice” – which is a mixture of Hennessey liquor and the energy drink Red Bull as well as the controversial energy drink Four Loko, which is said to contain the alcoholic equivalent of four beers in one can.

The girl was at Guzman’s Rangerville Road home when the girl started having seizures.

The teen was rushed to the emergency room at the Valley Baptist Medical Center in Harlingen where she ended up on a ventilator.

Investigators believe the teen overdosed on the ecstasy pills but physicians are warning Rio Grande Valley residents about mixing drugs, alcohol and energy drinks.

Dr. Petro Levounis said although Four Loko seems harmless, the caffeine can make being drunk or drugged that much more intense and dangerous.

“What happens is the caffeine makes you more awake,” Dr. Levounis said. “The caffeine gives you more pep. The caffeine reverses some of the sedative's effects of alcohol. Therefore, it makes it much easier to have four times as much than you would have without the caffeine.”

Both Garcia and Guzman appeared before Cameron County Magistrate Judge Luis Saenz on Thursday morning.

Garcia was charged with furnishing alcohol to a minor and delivering a controlled substance to a minor and received $22,500 dollars in bonds. 

Guzman is behind bars under a $2,500 dollar bond for a false report to a peace officer charge.

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