Mills Child Endangerment Affidavit: ‘Knives Strewn About & Bucket Full of Urine’ Found
A Mills man and woman are facing child endangerment charges after police there reportedly found a 5-month old living in a condemned building with no running water, food storage, shattered glass on the floor and a methamphetamine pipe within 5 feet of a pacifier.
Ambrosha Rae Shreve and Andrew Fernandez are each charged with child endangerment - methamphetamine and possession of a controlled substance.
If convicted of the child endangerment charge, they could face up to five years behind bars. Possession of a controlled substance is a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail, $1,000 in fines or both.
According to an affidavit of probable cause, a building inspector attempted to inspect a condemned house in Mills on January 20. When the inspector arrived, a woman (later identified as Shreve) answered the door.
"Due to the odd and surprising behavior of the female, (the inspector) requested the assistance of Mills Police Department officers," the affidavit states.
Court documents allege that a man (later identified as Andrew Fernandez) was found hiding in the building's attic. Fernandez was taken into custody on multiple outstanding warrants.
The affidavit alleges that Mills police officers found two glass pipes in plain view in the residence's "living room." One pipe was in an unused wood stove while the other was on the floor and broken into multiple pieces. Each pipe contained white residue.
In the affidavit, a Mills police officer notes that a child pacifier was located roughly five feet from where each pipe was located.
According to the affidavit, Shreve told police that she and a 5-month-old child lived in the condemned residence with Fernandez.
"(T)he residence appeared to be unfit to have a child in, with no running water, no food storage, loose tools and knives strewn about and a bucket of urine in place of a functioning toilet," a police officer writes in the affidavit.
The officer continues, "Based upon the condition of the house, the admission of recent and frequent methamphetamine use, and the discovery of multiple glass pipes with suspected methamphetamine residue inside the dwelling, (the police officer) believes that Fernandez and Shreve both endangered a child whom they had the custody and/or care of by knowingly and willfully permitting the child to remain in a room or dwelling where they knew methamphetamine was possessed, stored or ingested."