‘I know I’m in trouble:’ North Las Vegas man charged after 6-month-old son left in car outside casino
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LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — A North Las Vegas man arrested Friday night after his 6-month-old son was left alone in a car outside a casino told police, “I know I’m in trouble” when officers found him inside, according to an arrest report.
The boy was found when another customer heard him crying in the car and went to casino security, according to statements made to North Las Vegas police.
Mitchell Hooks, 39, faces charges of child abuse/neglect and leaving a child unattended in a motor vehicle.
When officers found him inside the Bighorn Casino at 3016 E. Lake Mead Boulevard, he said he “made a mistake” by going gambling instead of going home. He told police he had dropped off his sister at a friend’s house in the area of Lake Mead Boulevard and D Street, and he went to the casino instead of going home, according to the arrest report.
“I made a mistake. I went in there and I gambled,” according to his statement to police.
He went into the casino at 9:46 p.m., according to surveillance video. Police were on the scene at 10:19 p.m.
The temperature outside at the time was 100 degrees, police said.
When police arrived they found security personnel at the car with the back door open. The child was in a car seat inside the car. The front driver’s side window was rolled down about four inches, but the other windows were up.
The boy was taken to University Medical Center for evaluation.
Hooks initially told police he stopped because he had to use the bathroom, but eventually said he shouldn’t have done what he did and he “deserved anything that was coming to him,” according to the arrest report.
