Dad with history of drunken threats arrested for letting 1-year-old son wander the streets (Chesterfield, New Hampshire)

We're told that dad LONNIE J. PLACE is homeless, a man with a history of belligerent behavior and drug/alcohol abuse. A man with an (unspecified) criminal history.  

So why is his 1-YEAR-OLD SON with him? Obviously a dude with this kind of history is incapable of supervising a child of this age--or any child. The fact that Daddy apparently abandoned his son at a grocery store, and that this baby--barely into the walking stage--was seen wandering along a highway is proof of that.

The big elephant in the room here: WHERE IS THIS LITTLE BOY'S MOTHER? Why does the reporter not even bother to ask or inquire? Obviously, about one year ago, somebody gave birth to this child. What happened to her?

We hear that Daddy's other daughter is with her mother. Is it the same mother? We don't know. The reporter doesn't tell us.

I can't help but wonder: Did this idiot have custody or something? What idiot would have awarded him custody anyway?

Lots of unanswered questions....

http://www.reformer.com/ci_21597390/child-found-wandering-route-9-father-charged?source=most_viewed

Child found wandering on Route 9, father charged

By DOMENIC POLI / Reformer Staff

Posted: 09/21/2012 03:00:00 AM EDT Friday September 21, 2012

CHESTERFIELD, N.H. -- A homeless man is being held in lieu of $2,000 bail after allegedly abandoning his son at a grocery store while he was asleep and intoxicated under a bridge connecting Vermont and New Hampshire on Wednesday.

Lonnie J. Place, 35, has been cited with endangering the welfare of a child, resisting arrest, possession of a controlled substance and possession of an open alcoholic beverage container and is in custody at the Cheshire County House of Corrections.

According to a police report, Lt. Duane Chickering of the Chesterfield Police Department responded to Riverside Grocery at approximately 3:20 p.m. on Wednesday for a report of a young boy found at the edge of Route 9 with no adult near him.

When Chickering arrived at the scene, he found a boy roughly 1 year old and no parents in sight. The child was too young to speak but was capable of walking around, according to police.

The New Hampshire Division for Children, Youth and Families was called and officials agreed to take custody of the child. Chesterfield Police Chief Lester Fairbanks stayed with the child while Chickering and Brattleboro Police Officer Carl Warner searched the area.

The two found Place sleeping and intoxicated under the bridge at approximately 4:10 p.m. and were able to wake him after a few attempts. Place said he was watching his daughter when he fell asleep. It was later confirmed that the wandering child was his son. According to police, Place also has a daughter, who at the time of Place’s arrest, was in Vermont with her mother.

Most recently, Place was arrested on Oct. 25, 2011, for drunkenly threatening people outside a motel on Putney Road. He was listed as being from Newfane at that time.

According to Windham Superior Court Criminal Division, Place has had multiple charges against him over the years.