Dad charged after girl, 4, is lost during his trip for alcohol
A 36-year-old man is accused of child neglect after his 4-year-old daughter had wandered off from a convenience store during an alcohol run early Wednesday.
Edwardo Zepeda was being held Wednesday at the Clark County Detention Center on one felony count of child abuse or neglect, jail records show.
About 2 a.m., a 7-Eleven clerk at 2200 W. Charleston Blvd. called 911 after a drunken man, who had been in the store with the girl hours earlier, had returned to “ask if she saw his 4-year-old daughter,” Metropolitan Police Lt. David Gordon said.
The man had been in the store, trying to purchase alcohol, but left after his card was declined, police said.
He also was seen a short time later in a nearby grocery store parking lot at Charleston and Rancho Drive searching for the girl.
Officers joined in on the search around 2 a.m., eventually finding the girl sleeping between two power boxes near 840 S. Rancho Drive, indicating that she would have crossed Rancho at some point, Gordon said.
Child Protective Services was called to the scene, and Zepeda was taken into custody.
His initial appearance in Las Vegas Justice Court is scheduled for Thursday morning.
Review-Journal staff writer Rio Lacanlale contributed to this report.
