Phila. Man Accused of Leaving Tot in Car to Go Gambling
by KYW's Ian Bush
Authorities say a Philadelphia man gambled with his son's life Tuesday evening at a casino in Bucks County -- leaving the toddler in the car while he played slots.
Donald Waige stopped at the Parx Casino -- just for a little while, he'd later tell police, to cash in a credit on his player's card.
Cops say the Juniata Park man thought that short enough to ditch his 15-month-old, leaving him in a running, locked car in the parking lot, with the AC cranked:
"He didn't realize that an hour had passed. He was only going to run in for about 10 minutes. And he seemed to think it was okay to leave the air conditioning on and leave his child in the car -- which obviously is not acceptable -- and 10 minutes turned into an hour."
Bensalem police director of public safety Fred Harran says the 59-year-old was arrested inside Parx at the penny slots and charged with endangering the welfare of a child.
The boy's okay, and is being cared for by relatives. Waige will now have to try his luck with a judge.
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5 comments:
People just don't understand slot machine addiction. If they did, they would never be so receptive to slots here in MA. Everything on the machine is designed to get people to play to "extinction". Not everyone is susceptible, but for those who are, the results can be tragic. Sadly, those are the same people who account for the great majority of casino revenue - filling the pockets of billionaire casino owners to overflowing and permitting States to spend until it's spent, as usual.
The vast majority of the people who get sucked in by slots were previously Law Abiding Citizens who contributed to this country, worked hard and were never told about the risks.
It's pretty pathetic when Beacon Hill only wants to listen to well paid lobbyists.
We have so many consumer protections to keep our keeps safe, but our reps open the door to this insanity. Of course, they haven't done their homework even a little bit about slot machine addiction. Who cares if MIT and Harvard Doctors show up to testify at the State House FOUR times...
The most widely publicized case is
Primadonna Casino and Sherrice Iverson
.
No one questioned that the casino ignored little kids running around at that hour. No one questioned that a little girl went into the ladies room - clearly visible on the Casino Security Tape, yet the casino took no action when young men followed her.
People have shared stories of attending conferences at Foxwoods and witnessing young children running around the corridors while their parents feed the slot machines.
No one questions. Maybe that's the problem.
As I recall, even the mayor of New Bedford expressed disgust about that aspect of casinos. And yet... everyone accepts it. No, that's not right. They accept it as long as the state can make money off it.
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