Thread: Trouble piling up for bar patron who left baby in car

Trouble piling up for bar patron who left baby in carBy Gary Klien

Marin Independent Journal

Posted: 09/10/2011 10:40:02 AM PDT

A man accused of leaving his baby in a hot vehicle outside a Fairfax pub has been charged with a misdemeanor instead of a felony -- but now he's facing a federal immigration jam because of his arrest.

Sergei Andrey Tchelakov -- who is also on probation for a drunken driving conviction -- could face an extra six months in jail for the alleged probation violation, said Deputy District Attorney Charles Cacciatore. The child endangerment charge carries up to a year in jail.

Tchelakov, 47, of Woodacre pleaded not guilty Friday in Marin Superior Court, said his lawyer, Deputy Public Defender Christine O'Hanlon.

Tchelakov's escalating problems began on Monday afternoon, when he was arrested in Fairfax. Police said Tchelakov was drinking and eating at the Iron Springs Pub and Brewery while his 1-year-old son was left outside in the car, strapped into a car seat in direct sunlight with the windows up.

Police said the baby had been in the car for 45 minutes to an hour and was extremely warm to the touch, but did not require medical treatment. Tchelakov, a youth soccer coach and musician, was booked into Marin County Jail on suspicion of felony child cruelty, and bail was set at $50,000.

The district attorney's office, after reviewing the police reports, filed the case as misdemeanor child endangerment. But then authorities attached a federal immigration hold on Tchelakov, a native of Ukraine, pending further review of his citizenship status.

The immigration hold means Tchelakov will be detained without bail and could face a deportation threat after the local case concludes.

Tchelakov's pregnant wife was also at the pub that day, but left him and the baby about 30 minutes before police were flagged down by a witness concerned about the infant in the car, said Fairfax resident Michelle Johnson, a regular patron at the bar.

"They're making him out to be a monster," said Johnson, 48. "These people are good parents. They're not bad parents at all."

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 49 children under 14 died from hyperthermia in 2010 because of being left in a hot car, with another 21 fatalities through July 26 of this year.

The agency says internal car temperatures can rapidly escalate to more than 110 degrees, even on relatively mild days with the windows partially open.

http://www.mercurynews.com/crime-courts ... ck_check=1

[quote]They're making him out to be a monster," said Johnson, 48. "These people are good parents. They're not bad parents at all."

Apparently they do it all the time, since they are so well known there . Under the new guildlines this is not considered a " serious offense." He will be given a green card and required to attend parenting classes, and told to leave a bowl of water and the window cracked the next time. Where did the mother go off to, leaving the child there in the car? Proves God works in Mysterious ways. You would think he would send people like this into the world sterile.

I mean seriously!?!?!?! This is psychotic to leave your own helpless child in a closed hot car like this. If someone had not found that child, it could have easily died.

W