Left: Craig Darnell Presley (Alachua County Sheriff’s Office). Right: Chadrick Rodell Smith Jr. (ACSO).
Two Florida men have been arrested after they allegedly told police they had stopped looking for a lost 5-year-old boy in their care who ran off and was later located as he was about to wander into a busy street.
Craig Darnell Presley, 52, and Chadrick Rodell Smith Jr., 27, were taken into custody over the weekend and charged with one count each of neglect of a child without great bodily harm, court records show.
Officers responding to a call near an apartment complex on Sept. 7 spotted an unaccompanied child walking toward a busy street, according to a probable cause affidavit obtained by Law&Crime. A group of nearby teens who did not know the child assisted the officers in recovering the boy, who they said was pulled back from the road “just prior to a vehicle driving by.”
Police spoke with the boy, who was able to provide his name and age, but was unable to tell the officer where he lived. A resident from the apartment complex recognized the boy and assisted officers with locating the child’s apartment number.
The officers escorted the boy to the apartment, where they found an additional five children inside. Police spoke with the kids, who informed them the 5-year-old “had a history of taking off” and that “the adults in the home looked for [him] before giving up and returning home,” with “one of the parties even falling asleep afterwards.”
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As the children were speaking with the officers, they said Presley came out and appeared disheveled, noting that he had to hold up his “undone pants.” Despite his appearance, Presley allegedly denied having been asleep.
Officers soon got in touch with Smith, who allegedly confirmed that he and Presley were watching the children while two adults — the child’s mother and grandmother — were grocery shopping. Smith allegedly told police that after the child ran off, he looked for him, but when he “couldn’t find him, he returned home.” The officer said Smith “appeared unbothered” by the boy’s disappearance.
Both men said they had not contacted authorities or the other adults after the child went missing, police said. When the other adults returned to the apartment, they allegedly said that they had left the children in the care of Smith and Presley for about 30 minutes before the 5-year-old was found near the road.
As the two men rode to Alachua County Jail in police custody, Presley allegedly stated that he was only looking after his own five children and was not responsible for the 5-year-old.
Presley appeared before Judge Susan Miller-Jones, who ordered him to be released on his own recognizance after he pays an undisclosed amount in owed child support. Smith, who has two previous felony convictions, is being held in lieu of $25,000 bond. It was not immediately clear when the two were next scheduled to appear in court.
Police did not disclose the defendants’ relationship to the 5-year-old boy.
