Police: Missouri Dad Left Baby Alone While He Stole Alcohol

Authorities say a suburban St. Louis man left his 11-month-old daughter home alone while he stole liquor from a grocery store.

Police in Manchester says 24-year-old Jarek Crowder was caught Dec. 4 on store security stuffing four small bottles of vodka into a jacket pocket. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that he told security he had left his daughter alone at his apartment in nearby Ballwin.

Officers there went to the apartment and found the baby in a crib. Ballwin police say the child didn’t appear to be harmed but had a soiled diaper. The baby was placed in the custody of a grandparent.

The father is charged in municipal court in Manchester with stealing and in Ballwin with child endangerment. He doesn’t have a listed phone number.