An Oklahoma couple is facing criminal allegations after police say they left three small children by themselves at home and drove roughly 20 minutes away to play pickleball.
Andrew Dick and Feather Roberts were taken into custody on August 30 after Glenpool police officers found their children — ages eight, five and one — inside a residence with no adult present, authorities said.
According to the Glenpool Police Department, the welfare check began after a 911 call was abruptly disconnected, prompting concern about what might be happening at the home.
Police said someone reached out to Dick and Roberts, who allegedly claimed the children were being watched by a babysitter while the couple played pickleball at Courts and Commons in Bixby.
But when that person went to check on the Glenpool house, officials said they discovered the children were there alone.
Responding officers found the two older children, ages eight and five, watching television, while the one-year-old was asleep, according to police.
Dick and Roberts later came back to the home and acknowledged to officers that they had been out playing pickleball, authorities said.
‘When officers asked how the children could contact them in the event of an emergency, Roberts stated the children had access to an iPad they could use to call,’ police said.
Andrew Dick and Feather Roberts were arrested on August 30 after officers found three children, ages eight, five and one, at a Glenpool home without adult supervision, according to police
Officials said Dick and Roberts told them they were playing pickleball at the Courts and Commons in Bixby (Pictured), which is roughly 20 minutes away from their home where they were arrested
Officials also said Dick and Roberts have an infant child who had been left in the care of a babysitter elsewhere.
During their investigation, officers developed information indicating the children had previously been left home without adult supervision, police said.
Dick and Roberts were each charged with three counts of child neglect.
Courts and Commons in Bixby is about 11 miles from Glenpool.
Children are welcome at the facility, which features a mini food hall, eight pickleball courts, outdoor space and weekly events.
In July, a four-year-old girl in Colorado was seen calling for help from a second-story balcony at a home in Boulder at about 10.30pm after her father allegedly left her home alone wearing only a diaper, with drug paraphernalia within her reach.
When officers arrived, they were unable to enter through the front door because the girl was too young to open it, according to Boulder police.
Officers found marijuana and drug paraphernalia within the child’s reach on a coffee table, police said.
Officers responded and found the eight and five-year-old children watching television while the one-year-old was asleep
Officials also said Dick and Roberts have an infant child who had been left in the care of a babysitter elsewhere
Police contacted her father, Paul Wilson, 44, who allegedly told authorities he had left to get food while his daughter was asleep.
When asked to return to the residence, he refused, according to police.
Officers changed the girl’s diaper, helped her get dressed and drove her to the police station, where she remained until they were able to contact her mother. She was later taken to her mother’s home.
A day later, officers arrested Wilson outside a bar. He was charged with child abuse, reckless endangerment, felony unlawful possession of cocaine and felony drug distribution, police told Our News Outlet.
