CRIME
Police: Men arrested after leaving toddler twins in a vehicle for two hours
A father and his friend were in a nightclub when officers found the young boys 'drenched from sweat'
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A father and his friend have been arrested for allegedly leaving 2-year-old twins in a car for more than two hours while the men were inside a nightclub on Saturday.
Stephen Natseway and Orry Morris are charged with two counts of child abuse. They were arrested and booked into the Metropolitan Detention Center on Saturday and do not yet have an attorney.
Security guards at the Dirty Bourbon nightclub, at 9800 Montgomery NE near Eubank, were patrolling the parking lot when they saw the two children in a vehicle around 1:30 a.m. Saturday morning, according to a Monday news release from Albuquerque Police Department spokesperson Gilbert Gallegos.
Police were dispatched shortly after and broke the driver鈥檚 side window to unlock the vehicle and get the children out of the car, according to a criminal complaint filed in Metropolitan Court.
The boys were strapped in their car seats, which were not fastened to the vehicle, Gallegos said.
鈥淥fficers removed the boys from the car seats and immediately noticed they were drenched from sweat because of the heat inside the vehicle,鈥� he said. 鈥淎ll windows were rolled up.鈥�
Police called the Children, Youth and Families Department to take custody of the children after they were taken to a hospital to be checked, Gallegos said.
The boys were released to a family member after the incident, according to CYFD spokesperson Jake Thompson.
Natseway and Morris approached the vehicle shortly after the children were removed and told police the vehicle belonged to them, the complaint states.
shared by APD shows an officer unbuckle one of the twins from a carseat.
鈥淥h, he is just soaked. You are hot little guy, you are roasting,鈥� the officer said, according to lapel footage.
Officers repeatedly thanked the security guards for calling 911.
Body camera footage showed two officers holding the children while saying it was 鈥渋nsane鈥� and 鈥渄isgusting鈥� that the toddlers were left alone.
Police said Natseway told them he left the infants in the vehicle to 鈥渉ave time for himself鈥� after his family was unavailable to watch the children, according to the complaint.
Natseway told officers he did not plan to stay for long but was unable to leave because people were dancing with him, the complaint states.
Officers later learned that employees had scanned his ID around 10:55 p.m, according to the complaint.
Nakayla McClelland covers crime and breaking news. Reach her at nmcclelland@abqjournal.com or at 505-823-3857.
