Inset: Stephan Natseway (Metro Detention Center). Background: The bar where Natseway is accused of leaving his toddlers locked inside a vehicle (Google Maps).
A New Mexico father is accused of leaving his 20-month-old twin boys locked in a hot car outside an Albuquerque nightclub for about two and a half hours, allegedly telling officers he “wanted time for himself” and did not leave because “people were dancing with him.”
Stephan Natseway, 27, was arrested on two counts each of child abuse not resulting in great bodily harm, child abandonment not resulting in great bodily harm, and open child abuse. Authorities also arrested Natseway’s friend, Orry Morris, claiming he was aware the toddlers had been left in the vehicle while the adults were inside the bar, according to court records.
The incident unfolded early Saturday at the Dirty Bourbon Dance Hall & Saloon in the 9800 block of Montgomery Blvd. NE. According to a probable cause affidavit obtained by Law&Crime, Albuquerque Police Department officers were dispatched at 1:34 a.m. after a security guard reported spotting two young children alone in the back seat of a vehicle. The caller also told police the children appeared to be sweating.
When officers arrived, security staff had already smashed the driver’s-side window to gain access to the vehicle. Police began assisting the toddlers moments before two men walked up and claimed the vehicle was theirs.
Natseway told officers he was the children’s father, after which police immediately placed him in handcuffs and escorted him to a patrol unit. He later agreed to speak with investigators, the affidavit says.
“Stephan advised he left his children in the vehicle while he went to Dirty Bourbon to have time for himself,” police wrote in the affidavit. “He advised he was aware of the children being in the vehicle and had tried to call family members to watch the kids for the night. However, no family members were available. He stated he drove to Dirty Bourbon and would not have stayed long but due to people dancing with him he was unable to leave.”
Natseway allegedly told police he reached the nightclub at 10:30 p.m., although employees scanned his identification at 10:54 p.m. Officers were alerted to the children in the car at 1:33 a.m., according to the affidavit.
That put the twins inside the vehicle for about 2½ hours.
The boys were found strapped into car seats with the vehicle’s windows rolled up, but the seats were not secured to the car, local NBC affiliate KOB reported. Officers described the children as drenched in sweat and extremely lethargic.
“The kids were very lethargic, seemed to be unconscious at the time but they were breathing,” Albuquerque police spokesperson Gilbert Gallegos told local Fox affiliate KRQE. “Once they pulled them out of car seats they started to come to and regain consciousness. Officers noticed right away their clothes were drenched with sweat, they had soiled themselves.”
Body-camera footage obtained by local news outlets captured officers reacting as they pulled the twins from the vehicle.
“Oh he is just soaked. He is soaked,” one officer said, according to KOB. Another officer who grabbed the second sibling responded, “My guy is too.”
Prosecutors argued in a detention motion that Natseway “endangered the lives and safety of his two children by leaving them in a hot car.”
“They are unable to care for themselves. Security found them sweating and alone in a car for approximately 2½ hours,” prosecutors wrote in court documents obtained by the Santa Fe New Mexican. “Even if the heat is not accounted for, the Defendant placed the children in danger so that he could go dancing. While they were alone in the car, a stranger could have kidnapped the children.”
Police said Natseway’s response after the children were rescued also drew their attention. Gallegos told KRQE that officers noticed he did not ask about the boys’ condition.
“In that little bit of time he didn’t ask once how the children were, if they were OK or not,” Gallegos said. “That did strike the officers, they did comment on that he didn’t show much concern about what was going on with the kids.”
Body-camera footage also captured Natseway asking whether he was going to jail, according to KOB.
“It just appeared like he had no remorse. He was more concerned about the fact that he was in trouble,” Gallegos said.
While Morris was initially charged in connection with the incident, prosecutors later dropped his charges while the investigation continued, the New Mexican reported.
Natseway was being held at the Metro Detention Center without bond as of Tuesday afternoon, records show.
The post Father refused to leave nightclub because ‘people were dancing with him’ while twin toddlers sat locked in car: Police first appeared on Law & Crime.
