Cops: Dad had drugs, daughter in car

A North Bellmore man was arrested early Sunday during a traffic stop after an officer spotted a bag of crack on a front seat and the man's young daughter in the backseat, Nassau police said.

David Kruger, 41, was stopped by police at 2:38 a.m. as he drove west on Violet Street in Massapequa after an officer spotted a defective brake light on his 2001 Nissan.

During the traffic stop, the officer noticed a bag of what looked like crack cocaine poking out of a pack of cigarettes on the passenger seat, police said.

Kruger's daughter, 8, was sitting in the back of the vehicle. The girl, who was unharmed, was released to her mother's custody, police said.

Kruger was arrested and charged with fifth-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, endangering the welfare of a child and operating a vehicle with defective brake lights.

Kruger was to be arraigned Monday at First District Court in Hempstead.