The police in east-central Florida arrested a Georgia couple vacationing there Saturday and charged them with child neglect among other charges after finding the pair passed out drunk, according to reports.
Timothy Stephens and his fiancée, Alyssia Langley, both 27, face felony neglect charges, with Stephens also facing charges of attempting to flee arrest and possessing alcoholic drinks on the beach in Daytona Beach, the New York Post (NYP) reported.
WESH 2 News aired the video of the couple’s encounter with the police.
“What’s up, guys?” an officer says in the video to the sleeping pair. “Sheriff’s Office. Time to wake up.”
But neither the officer’s words nor his prodding of Stephens could stir the pair awake.
The officer yells, “The Sheriff’s Office — wake up!” while shaking Stephens, who finally turned on his side and lifted his head.
“Welcome back,” said the officer. “Sit up…Do you have ID?”
Langley awoke at last and asked Stephens to give the officers his ID.
“Do you guys have children with you? Are they with you?” the officer asked.
Another officer repeated the question, to which Langley answered “Yes” while searching her bag. Stephens staggered to his feet and appeared unsteady.
“Tell me where your kids are,” an officer asked Stephens, who now seemed somewhat alert, wanting to know about his kids’ whereabouts. Stephens approached the ocean and called out to his kids as the officer stood nearby, the video showed.
“How old are they?” asked the officer
“Seven and eight.”
“Boys? Girls? Boy and a girl?”
“Boy and a girl.”
The video does not show when the couple was handcuffed. It, however, shows the officers taking Langley into the police truck when Stephens broke into a run. Soon he fell face-first onto the sand, prompting laughter from other beachgoers, and lost consciousness.
“Call the ambulance, please,” an officer said, while another tapped Stephen’s neck and called, “Wake up, wake up!” (RELATED: Video Shows Cops Confront Teen Appearing To Point Gun At Crowd On Florida Beach)
Part of the footage aired by WSVN 7 News showed Langley screaming into a nonplussed Stephen’s face as they both stood handcuffed: “Who the f—k’s gonna bond us out?”
The couple’s two children were found swimming unchaperoned but safe in the pool of the hotel where they all were staying, according to WSB-TV 2.
“I went and read the report and I’m like ‘You got to be kidding me,'” Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood told WSB-TV 2.
Stephens reportedly did not father the children but, together with Langley, is legally responsible for their care. The kids reportedly called him “dad” and “other daddy.”
The pair posted bond and were released the next day, WSB-TV 2 reported. Langley’s grandfather reportedly offered to take custody of the children.