A West Covina man was charged with felony child endangerment after allegedly leaving his three-year-old son alone for 25 hours in a car. Joe Louie Kurihara, 23, was charged with a felony child endangerment count, and four misdemeanor charges. In addition to the felony child endangerment charge he was also charged with two misdemeanor counts of resisting, obstructing or delaying law enforcement, one of battery upon an officer and one of public intoxication.
They had attended a wedding party at a Masonic Lodge along with the boy's mother. Joe Kurihara was arrested an hour after leaving the party while walking alone in the area of E. Cordova St. When police arrested Joe Kurihara, they were initially unaware that he was in charge of a child and Kurihara reportedly told police he did not remember being with Dylan because he was too drunk. Police were only made aware of the missing child when his mother woke up the next morning and discovered him missing and called police.
Police say the boy, Dylan Kurihara, was forgotten in the car by his drunk father. He was found late Sunday night by Rowdy Metzger, a Pasadena resident who saw and recognized the boy inside his father's missing silver 2001 Lexus four-door sedan still strapped into his car seat in a parking structure in the area of Madison Avenue and Green Street.
Dylan was a little dehydrated and covered in urine, but otherwise in good condition. The boy is now in protective custody after being taken to Huntington Memorial Hospital for evaluation. Joe Kurihara was being held on $10,000 bail on suspicion of felony child endangerment.
If you have been arrested for child endangerment or know someone who has, please contact a Palmdale criminal defense lawyer at the Law Offices of David M. Wallin, we have almost 50 years of combined legal experience defending individuals facing criminal charges.
