Parents Arrested After Kids Found Tied Up, Blindfolded in Parking Lot

Northlake parents face charges of child abuse, child endangerment

Two parents from a Chicago suburb are in custody after leaving their children tied up and blindfolded Wednesday in the parking lot of a Walmart store in Lawrence, Kan., police said.

Adolfo Gomez Jr., 52 and Deborah Gomez, 43, of Northlake, were charged with two counts each of child abuse and five counts each of child endangerment.

A customer called police Wednesday to report a young boy tied up and blindfolded outside a Chevrolet Suburban. When officers arrived, Sgt. Trent McKinley said they found a 5-year-old boy and 7-year-old girl bound and blindfolded outside the vehicle in the parking lot.

Three other children, ages 12, 13 and 15 were inside the vehicle, McKinley said.

When officers attempted to make contact with a man believed to be the children's father, he resisted and officers said they used a stun gun to subdue him. An adult female, believed to be the mother, was inside Walmart, McKinley said.

A photo posted on LJWorld.com shows the man being handcuffed by authorities.

The suspects were arrested on suspicion of child abuse and endangerment. Adolfo Gomez also was charged with obstruction of legal process for trying to evade officers.

"They were certainly upset by the events of the day," McKinley told NBC station KSHB in Kansas City, MO. "When we contacted the two children that were outside the vehicle, and took the male into custody, the remaining three didn't wanna come out of the car."

The family was on its way to Arizona when they pulled off I-70 due to car trouble, police said.

The children were taken into protective custody.

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