Man Charged With Leaving Child In Cold Car While In Casino

SHAKOPEE, Minn. (AP) — An Eden Prairie man is accused of leaving his toddler son alone in his car while he gambled at Mystic Lake Casino.

Twenty-nine-year-old Nicholas M. Anderson was charged last week in Scott County District Court with neglect or endangerment of a child, a gross misdemeanor. The Star Tribune reports his first court appearance is Tuesday.

The charges say Prior Lake police were sent to the casino about 2:15 p.m. Nov. 21 after a casino patron heard the child crying. Officers broke into the vehicle to get the 17 month old boy, who was dressed in a onesie and covered with a blanket in a car seat.

The temperature outside at the time was about 25 degrees.

Anderson told police the child's mother didn't know that he took their son to the casino.