A police report made available over the weekend said officers arrested Michael Blanco, 29, of Lubbock for state jail felony charge of abandoning or endangering a child.
Police were called to an apartment complex in the 2300 block of 70th Street. A little boy was found in the street. Police had been called to that same address previously when the boy was found along the South Loop access road. He was taken back home with “no further enforcement action.”
But on the second occasion, police decided to look further, according to the police report. Police found the apartment where the boy lived and it was completely dark with the front door open.
An officer wrote, “I observed the apartment to be in disgusting disarray. Trash was strewn everywhere and furniture was overturned.”
The officer also wrote, “I entered the apartment and was struck with the overwhelming smell of dirty diapers and human feces.”
The police report said Blanco was asleep along with two other children.
“This room was also filled with trash and was disgusting,” the officer wrote. “I looked into the bathroom and observed a trash bag filled with feces-smeared toilet paper and dirty diapers.”
Police asked where his son was and he did not know. The report indicated the boy was gone for an estimated 50 minutes.
But the police report took a much harsher tone in the next paragraph.
“[Blanco] stated that he couldn’t keep [the child] in the apartment and did not know how to lock the door properly.”
“[Blanco] is 29 years old and is employed as a licensed, professional jailer in the Montford Unit,” the officer wrote. “A jailer is defined as someone who forcibly confines another.”
“[Blanco] explained to me that despite the knowledge his vocation affords, he was either unwilling or unable to keep a three-year old child inside of his apartment and away from busy traffic. I then placed [Blanco] under arrest.”
Blanco was originally held on a $3,500 bond, and by Monday he was no longer listed in the Lubbock County Detention Center.
