Man charged with child neglect after police stop stolen van with 7 kids inside
Update 2:45 p.m.
A man has been charged with theft of a vehicle and child neglect after police found an intoxicated pregnant woman driving a stolen van with seven children inside.
Deszion Wraggs, 26, of Ramsey, was in the passenger seat of the vehicle – reported stolen out of Missouri – when it was pulled over just after midnight in the area of Xkimo St. NW and St. Francis Boulevard NW in Anoka, according to the criminal complaint.
Police said they found a loaded handgun in the van, and noticed a strong smell of burned marijuana. Five of the children in the van were under the age of 5; a 1-year-old was in a booster seat but not properly buckled in, according to the charges.
Five of the kids had clear packing tape over their mouths. One of the older ones told an officer that the children had tape over their mouths because they were playing with it, the charges say.
Wraggs, according to the complaint, admitted the gun was his and that he didn't have a permit to carry it, and said he'd rented the vehicle "for a few days" about a month earlier. But he didn't have any money left on the card he'd used to rent it.
Wraggs was identified as the father of all seven children. No other arrests or charges have been made relating to this case at this stage.
Original story
Police pulled over a pregnant woman driving a stolen vehicle to find seven juveniles inside, some with packaging tape covering their mouths.
A Ramsey officer stopped the vehicle for a driving violation just after midnight Tuesday, the police department said in a news release Wednesday. When the officer realized the vehicle was stolen, the three adults inside were detained.
That's when the woman who was driving told police she was going into labor. She was brought to the hospital.
Inside the car, police also found seven juveniles who "seemed unresponsive" but were awoken by officers, the release says. They were treated at the scene and interviewed by police, who determined there was "no immediate threat" to their safety, so they were released to family.
The news release didn't say how the juveniles knew the adults in the car, or how old they are. FOX 9 says they were related to the adults, but didn't elaborate how.
A man who was in the car was arrested for felony possession of a stolen vehicle. He hasn't yet been charged.
Ramsey police and Anoka County Child Protection continue to investigate this case.
