PEORIA, Ariz. — A man in Peoria, Arizona, was arrested after he reportedly left his young twins home alone for five hours on Wednesday.
The Peoria Police Department said that on Wednesday around 5 p.m., a concerned neighbor called and said toddlers were running around alone outside by an aggressive dog, according to KTVK. The neighbor reportedly said that the 2-year-olds were outside for about 20 minutes before he called police and brought the twins inside his house.
The garage door was left open and no adults were in the house, according to court records obtained by the news outlet. Officers spent about 30 minutes looking for their parents.
Craig Opdycke, 37, then pulled into the driveway of the house. He allegedly told officers he had to go to Taco Bell real quick and that the twins’ mother was at work, according to KPNX.
He later reportedly confessed to officers that he was actually gambling at a casino in the area at around 12 p.m., the news station reported. Opdycke said he locked the twins in their room before he left. He claimed he had no idea how they got outside.
Officers conducted a search and found that Opdycke had winning tickets from the casino and won over $2,000, according to KTVK. He was arrested and charged with a count of child abuse.