This browser does not support the Video element.
Georgia couple accused of child neglect on beach
A young couple from Georgia was arrested Saturday afternoon after Volusia County deputies say they found them drunk and asleep in the sand in Daytona Beach, and their children were nowhere to be found.
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - A young couple from Georgia was arrested Saturday afternoon after Volusia County deputies say they found them drunk and asleep in the sand in Daytona Beach, and their children were nowhere to be found.
An anonymous caller reported the couple to 911, and it took a deputy eight attempts to wake the two up, according to an arrest affidavit.
"I went and read the report, and I'm like, ‘You got to be kidding me,’" Sheriff Mike Chitwood said.
Deputies asked the couple where their kids were, but they didn't seem to have a clue, according to body-cam video obtained by FOX 35. At one point, the father calls out for the children at the water's edge.
"You don't know where they are?" the deputy asked.
Chitwood couldn't believe it.
"It just boggles my mind that you would drive here and get obliterated and allow a five- and a seven-year-old to wander off," he said.
MORE HEADLINES:
- Safety expert weighs in on spring break beach shootings across Florida
- Florida man cleared of murder charge after DNA evidence implicates roommate, police say
- Brevard County trying to conserve water as population surges, demand increases
Deputies found the two kids swimming in a pool at the hotel nearby – unsupervised but safe.
"If you don't want to be responsible for your children, and that's what you want to do, then find someone to watch them and come on vacation without them," Thomasa Bond, who's staying nearby, said after learning about the arrest.
Deputies arrested both parents, Alyssia Langley, 27, and her fiancé, Timothy Stephens, 27. Before Stephens was taken to jail, he had to be treated at the hospital after attempting to escape from deputies, face-planting on the ground, and knocking himself out.
"When we wonder what we see, why kids are the way they are, you gotta take a step back and look at who's in charge. And clearly, these two clowns shouldn't be in charge of ... they can't be in charge of themselves, let alone a five-year-old or a seven-year-old," Chitwood said.
Both Langley and Stephens were charged with child neglect, a third-degree felony.