A Batavia man's decision to leave a 1-year-old baby alone in a hot apartment was only discovered, according to police, because officers showed up at his door yesterday evening to arrest him on a warrant.
Charles J. Rodriguez Sr., 40, of 20 N. Spruce St., Apt. 9, was not located at his apartment by police until this morning when he was taken into custody and charged with endangering the welfare of a child.
At his arraignment this morning, he pled guilty and was sentenced to six months in the Genesee County Jail.
He was also wanted for petit larceny at the Dollar General on June 4, which he also admitted to this morning, and was given a sentence to run concurrently with the sentence on endangering the welfare of a child.
The incident began with police arriving at the Rodriguez apartment at 9:30 p.m., yesterday, and even though a television could be heard inside the residence, and the lights were on, nobody came to the door.
A concerned neighbor told officers there was possibly a toddler, believed to be the son of Rodriguez, alone in the residence.
Officers exhausted available resources trying to locate Rodriguez or the child's mother.
City fire was called to the scene to assist an officer in gaining access to the apartment through an unsecured second-floor window. The officer was able to enter the apartment and unlock the front door.
The toddler was located in a room lying a crib.
Police say the temperature inside the apartment at the time was 85 degrees.
Mercy medics responded to evaluate the child and Social Services was notified and caseworkers responded to care for the child.
As a result of further investigation, the mother was located and she was staying the night in Buffalo and had left Rodriguez in charge of the child.
Rodriguez was also wanted by Cheektowaga PD on alleged failure to comply with a drug court order.
