Judge won't punish mom who defended son

BATAVIA, N.Y. (WIVB) - Nicolette Lang is a Batavia mother who was arrested on trespassing charges after she confronted a store for allegedly feeding her son's bath salts addiction.

She was arrested, and two days later, on July 18th, the Lang family held a protest outside the 420 Emporium, demanding it be shut down. On July 25th, the store was one of many raided as part of a large-scale synthetic drug bust. It eventually closed.

On Tuesday, Lang appeared in court to fight the trespassing charges. A city judge in Batavia shelved the criminal case for six months with the intention of dismissing it.

Lang's son Jason is hooked on bath salts. The synthetic drugs can cause extreme reactions, are highly addictive, and can be fatal.

Lang's daughter, Brandi Smith, said, "It really just makes you feel completely hopeless because you love somebody and you want to see them happy and healthy, and when they are using that stuff it is just so overpowering."

Prosecutors asked a city judge for a disposition of the case, which means if Lang stays out of trouble for the next six months, the trespassing charge will be dismissed. The Batavia mother feels her actions were justified, not just because of the court decision.

Shortly after she was cited for trespassing federal authorities raided the 420 Emporium and arrested two of the employees.

Lang said, "I did not do it to be vicious; I just wanted them to stop selling the drugs."

Since then, the 420 Emporium has been closed and Governor Cuomo's Health Commissioner issued a ban on all sales of bath salts and other synthetic drugs in New York. Authorities in Batavia have noticed a change for the better, and the Langs say, so has Jason.

"I can look at my brother and I am very hopeful that each day is going to get better, and with each day that gets better, I get another piece of my brother back," Smith said.

Jason Lang is recovering from his bath salts addiction at home with his parents, but got in trouble with the law himself, and he was in court today, too. One of the charges Jason faces is impersonating a police officer, but a Batavia judge continued his case for a month, in town court.