A Des Moines man is facing charges of child endangerment after police say he was found passed out drunk under a bush. Des Moines Police spokesperson Sergeant Chris Scott says the man was spotted Sunday night by several teenagers who woke him up and helped him home. The man, later identified as Edgar Cardoza, initially refused to tell the teens where he lived but eventually agreed to let them help him home after they threatened to call police.
Scott said when the teens got Cardoza to his home they discovered toddlers, ages 1 and 2, were left home alone. Both of the children were crying and one was in a crib. The teens decided to call police and the arriving officer found Cardoza passed out on a couch near the window. The officer reported that he pounded on the window to wake Cardoza and when he opened the door, it was clear he was intoxicated.
A breath test showed Cardoza had a blood-alcohol level of .246. “Which, if he was driving a car, would be three times the legal limit,” Scott pointed out. The children’s mother was contacted at work. She returned home as Cardoza was hauled to jail.
Scott praised the teenagers for their actions. “Their initial gesture was just to help a drunk, passed-out person get home. Which is, in itself, certainly a kind act,” Scott said. “Then to discover what they did when they arrived to this person’s house was disgusting, for lack of a better word, and they acted appropriately and got the police involved.”
The officer who responded to the home said there was trash and dog feces on the floor and Cardoza did not know when the children last had something to eat.