LAWRENCE, Kan. – A suburban Chicago couple remains jailed after two of their five children were found blindfolded and bound in a Kansas Walmart parking lot.
The parents from Northlake, Ill., are each charged with two counts of child abuse and five counts of child endangerment. The charges are felonies. The man also faces one count of obstruction.
Deborah and Adolfo Gomez, of west suburban Northlake, were arrested Wednesday on two counts of child abuse and five counts of endangering a child.
The children are aged five through 15. Police say the two youngest, ages 5 and 7, were found bound and blindfolded in the family's Chevy Suburban SUV that had been parked in a Walmart parking lot since Monday. The vehicle had no license plates, according to police.
Police say the family was traveling to Arizona to see relatives when their SUV developed mechanical problems on I-70 and they stopped in Lawrence.
A customer called police from inside the store saying they saw a child in the parking lot with his arms tied behind him sitting next to a van.
The vehicle was surrounded by police while the mother was shopping inside the Walmart. They say the father resisted when they tried to enter the vehicle, and they used tasers to subdue him.
Authorities in Lawrence are making temporary arrangements for all five of the children, while the parents are held at the Douglas County jail.
As for any injuries, the police made no mention of any in their statement, the local paper reports that medics examined family members at the scene and no one was taken to a hospital.
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