An Arizona father is in custody after police say he left his four children in a hot car for nearly an hour while shopping in an adult store.
Police say Ascencio Largo, 38, left his four kids under the age of 10 alone in a car Thursday while he went inside “The Adult Shoppe,” an adult entertainment store in Phoenix, local outlet AZ Family reports.
The car was off and the windows were rolled up, causing the temperature to rise to 125 degrees inside, police said. The kids — ages 2, 3, 4 and 7 — have since been taken to the hospital and are expected to fully recover, Fox 10 reports.
“The call that all officers hate to get; multiple children left in a car unattended, cars not on, doors locked,” Phoenix Police Sergeant Rob Schere told Fox 10. “They got all the kids out immediately, gave them water. There were signs of distress, you know, color discoloration, you know, skin bright red, sweating. Clearly, the heat was affecting the children.”
The children were “in imminent danger of death,” a Maricopa County prosecutor said in court.
The Independent has contacted Largo’s attorney, Josh Cooner, for comment.
Officers arrived at the scene after a passerby noticed the four children and called 911, AZ Family reports, citing court documents.
When Largo left the shop, police asked him if the car with the four children was his. Largo shook his head to say “no,” according to court documents. Largo then walked toward the car, which was surrounded by police cars and fire trucks.
“Oh, s***,” Largo said once he saw the car, according to court documents.
Police said Largo was drunk when they arrested him on Thursday, AZ Family reports.
Largo first appeared in court on Friday, public records indicate. The judge set his bail at $5,000 and ordered Largo to stay away from his children, who are currently with their mother, according to AZ Family.
The judge tore into Largo at his first court appearance.
“The police allege that they went into the store, called out many times, nobody came out and they allege that when you came out you attempted to pretend like it wasn’t your car,” the judge said, according to AZ Family. “It indicates a strong level of reckless culpability.”
“You are presumed innocent, but what the police are alleging could have resulted in, you know, the kind of story that gets picked up on international news wires. Man goes into porno store leaving his four children to die in their car,” she added.
