A New Mexico father, Stephan Natseway, 27, was arrested and charged with child abuse and abandonment after allegedly leaving his 20-month-old twin sons in a hot car for more than two hours while he went dancing at a bar. Police discovered the toddlers in the vehicle parked outside The Dirty Bourbon Dance Hall & Saloon in Albuquerque around 1:30 a.m. on Saturday. Security at the bar had alerted authorities after noticing the children alone in the car.
Officers broke into the vehicle and found the boys lethargic and heavily sweating. According to the criminal complaint, the car seats were not secured to the vehicle's back seats. While the outside temperature in Albuquerque was around 73 degrees Fahrenheit after 11 p.m., a parked car can reach temperatures of 100 degrees Fahrenheit in just 25 minutes and up to 115 degrees Fahrenheit within an hour, according to the National Weather Service.
Natseway reportedly approached the vehicle and identified it as his. He told police he "wanted to have time to himself" and had tried to find family members to watch the children without success. He also stated he would have left the bar earlier but was prevented from doing so by others he was dancing with. Security at the bar had scanned Natseway's driver's license just before 11 p.m.
Prosecutors are seeking to detain Natseway before trial, arguing he endangered the children's lives and safety by leaving them in the car so he could go dancing, and that they could have been kidnapped by a stranger. Both Natseway and a friend confirmed to law enforcement that they were aware the children had been left in the car.
The Children, Youth and Families Department (CYFD) of New Mexico reported that the boys were transported to a hospital for evaluation and subsequently released. They were then placed with a family member. Due to the applicability of the Indian Child Welfare Act, CYFD notified the appropriate tribe or pueblo, which initially took jurisdiction for the investigation. After the tribe decided not to retain jurisdiction, CYFD began its own investigation. Natseway has agreed to continue family support services recommended by the department. He has a prior record of alleged neglect, with two previous reports that could not be substantiated, and he allegedly failed to take one of the boys to eight follow-up medical appointments. The children's mother also has a prior child abuse charge from the previous year.
Natseway was booked into the Bernalillo County Metropolitan Detention Center. The children's mother was previously charged with child abuse after one of the boys suffered a broken arm while in her care when she was allegedly intoxicated.