Two Florida men were arrested after allegedly telling police that they had stopped looking for a lost 5-year-old boy in their care who had run away and was later found as he was about to walk into a busy street.
Craig Darnell Presley, 52, and Chadrick Rodell Smith Jr., 27, were arrested over the weekend and charged with one count of neglecting a child without causing great bodily harm, according to court records.
Officers responding to a call near an apartment complex on September 7 noticed an unaccompanied child walking toward a busy street, according to a probable cause affidavit obtained by Law&Crime.
A group of nearby teens who didn’t know the child helped the officers find the boy, who they said was pulled back from the road “just prior to a vehicle driving by.”
Police spoke with the boy, who gave the officer his name and age but couldn’t tell him where he lived. A resident of the apartment complex recognized the boy and helped officers locate the child’s apartment number.
The officers led the boy to the apartment, where they discovered an additional five children. Police interviewed the children, who told them that the 5-year-old “had a history of taking off” and that “the adults in the home looked for [him] before giving up and returning home,” with “one of the parties even falling asleep afterwards.”
As the children spoke with the officers, they reported that Presley appeared disheveled and had to hold up his “undone pants.” Despite his appearance, Presley allegedly denied having fallen asleep.
Officers soon contacted Smith, who allegedly confirmed that he and Presley were watching the children while two adults — the child’s mother and grandmother — went grocery shopping.
Smith allegedly told police that after the child ran away, he searched for him but “couldn’t find him, so he returned home.” The officer said Smith “appeared unconcerned” about the boy’s disappearance.
According to police, both men stated that they did not contact authorities or other adults after the child went missing. When the other adults returned to the apartment, they allegedly claimed that they had left the children in the care of Smith and Presley for approximately 30 minutes before the 5-year-old was discovered near the road.
As the two men rode to Alachua County Jail in police custody, Presley allegedly stated that he was only responsible for his own five children and not the 5-year-old.
Presley appeared before Judge Susan Miller-Jones, who ordered him released on his own recognizance after paying an undisclosed amount of child support.
Smith, who has two prior felony convictions, is being held in lieu of $25,000 bond. It was not immediately clear when the two would next appear in court.
Police did not reveal the defendants’ relationship with the five-year-old boy.
