Man arrested after leaving child to go to bar in Sacramento County

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — A man was arrested Monday on suspicion of child endangerment after he left his granddaughter with a homeless woman to go to a bar in Sacramento County.

The Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office said officers responded to a bar parking lot in the 5300 block of Auburn Boulevard around 7:45 p.m. A caller reported that a man was asking people for help because his seven-year-old granddaughter had been kidnapped for human trafficking.

When officers arrived, the man, later identified as 54-year-old Jason Warren, was “very intoxicated,” according to the sheriff’s office.

Warren told officers he gave a homeless woman $20 to go to a thrift store with his granddaughter while he went to a bar. The sheriff’s office said he was at the bar for about four hours.

Officers found surveillance video of a woman walking away with the child. About half an hour into the search, the women heard the announcements from the sheriff’s helicopter and brought the child back to the parking lot.

She confirmed to deputies that Warren gave her $20 to take the child to a thrift store. She also said he was drunk and she didn’t think he could take care of a child, so she took the child to her camp to get food.

According to the sheriff’s office, the child confirmed the woman’s report to officers and was not in distress. The child was examined by a doctor as a precautionary measure.

The sheriff’s office said during the investigation it determined the child’s aunt had sole custody and asked Warren to watch the child because she had to go to work. The child returned home with his aunt.

Warren was arrested and faces child endangerment and other charges. He is being held in the Sacramento County Main Jail on $75,000 bail. He is scheduled to appear in court on Wednesday.

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