Man leaves hungry toddler locked in car
Food money used to enter strip club, pay dancer tips
By Alan Gathright, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)
Published May 16, 2008 at 11 p.m.
Alan Baxter in hot water over child's care.
Alan Baxter has blown his shot at Babysitter of the Year.
The Denver man was busted for leaving his girlfriend's hungry toddler locked in a parked car while he hit a Glendale strip club.
The topper: The girlfriend, who was at work, gave Baxter $20 to buy dinner for her 3-year-old daughter. The 20-year-old man instead used it for the cover charge and stripper tips at Shotgun Willie's.
The manager of Fascinations porn shop next-door came to the rescue - flagging down a police officer May 10 to report the toddler alone in the locked car with the driver's side window opened 3 inches.
"The child appeared very afraid, and seemed to 'cower' in the rear seat," a Glendale officer wrote in the police report. "There was no food or water left in the vehicle."
The officer noted that it was about 50 degrees. Leaving a child in an over-heated car can be fatal - at least 36 children died in hot cars nationwide last year.
The Fascinations manager and patrons told police the car had been parked there about 25 minutes. The manager described a man who'd left the car and appeared to enter the strip club.
In Shotgun Willie's, officers found the man fitting the description - Baxter - sitting at a table with a cold beer, tipping a dancer.
Baxter was initially evasive, denying driving to the club or knowing anything about the child, the report stated.
But when police asked him if he knew the car's registered owner, Baxter admitted she was his girlfriend.
When police called her and said that Baxter had left her daughter in a parked car while he hit the strip joint, the mother appeared "very upset and concerned about her child's well-being."
The little girl told police she was "very hungry" and an officer got her a McDonald's meal before reuniting the toddler with her mom.
Baxter admitted that he'd used the child's meal money to enter the club and his wad of 16 $1 bills were for dancer tips.
He said he'd only had a "sip" of beer, and a police Breathalyzer test showed no measurable alcohol in his system. He was charged with neglecting a child and released.
Ultimately, "Baxter stated leaving the child alone was 'very stupid,' " according to the police report.
At Westword.com, which broke the story, readers blasted Baxter.
"Please tell me that the mother dumped this jerk," one reader wrote in a post.
Police alerted the Shotgun Willie's manager that a club worker had allowed Baxter to enter, failing to notice that his driver's license showed he was three weeks shy of his 21st birthday.
The worker was fired immediately, because patrons must be 21 to enter the club and be served alcohol.
gathrighta@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5486
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May 17, 2008
6:42 a.m.
Suggest removal
T1anda writes:
I know 15 year olds that have more sense than this idiot!! If the mother doesn't dump him FAST we are looking at more child abuse or even death of a child in the future!!
May 17, 2008
7:34 a.m.
Suggest removal
MsValeriah writes:
Yikes. What a clueless dirtbag. Surely the girl's mother does have the good sense to dump this chump! Glad his picture got published. It will serve to warn the women he hits on in future to stay away from him! Creep!
May 17, 2008
8:05 a.m.
Suggest removal
Buckwheat writes:
I think the Brother made a major error in judgement... Maybe his next error will be to drop the soap. Hee,hee,hee...
May 17, 2008
8:20 a.m.
Suggest removal
happymike44 writes:
What you have here is a wife beater and a child abuser.What they need to do is lock in the car and duct tape him to the seat so he can't get out for at least ten to twenty minutes.Maybe he will understand the suffering he inflicted on this poor little kid.The other thing I don't like more then a child abuser is person who abuses a pet.It has been proven that if they abuse a child or spouse.Then they will abuse or even kill a family pet.What a real dirt bag.
May 17, 2008
8:32 a.m.
Suggest removal
fatdog writes:
Where is the little girl's father?
May 17, 2008
8:37 a.m.
Suggest removal
Buckwheat writes:
No, I think a child abuser would pretty much be at the top of my list. I would move pet abuser down the ladder with Lawyers and Politicians.. But that's just my 2 cents worth.
May 17, 2008
9:48 a.m.
Suggest removal
hdfresh writes:
happymike44--How do you know this guy is a wife beater? I do agree with him being a child abuser however. This guy should have had enough sense to at least find someone who could have watched the kid while he was out getting his jollies. There is always a time and place to go to a strip club, but just not when you are watching your girlfriend's 3 year old.
May 17, 2008
10:18 a.m.
Suggest removal
Lowtaxequalsfreedom writes:
"Alan Baxter has blown his shot at Babysitter of the Year"
Come on tell us what you are really thinking.
May 17, 2008
12:04 p.m.
Suggest removal
tchoupitoulas writes:
I would love to put this jerk over my lap and give him a "lap dance" with a leather belt across his rump. This is just sickening.
Thumbs up to the manager of Fascinations and the Glendale police officer that fed the little girl. I don't know how many people would have been alert enough to notice the baby in the car, and far fewer people who would offer to feed a hungry child that they didn't know.
May 18, 2008
8:13 a.m.
Suggest removal
Milehighguy writes:
Nice cubic zirconia earings...And one in the nose? I don't know who is more of a loser - the girlfriend or him. If he can pick up a woman, there is hope for single man.
May 18, 2008
10:02 a.m.
Suggest removal
more_cowbell writes:
Hope the t&a was worth it...
May 18, 2008
12:07 p.m.
Suggest removal
Buckwheat writes:
Need to turn him over to Gunny Bob. He'll snatch that rock off of his face with a pair of rusty pliers and give him a tune up.
May 18, 2008
1:55 p.m.
Suggest removal
BJG writes:
It's a shame we only spay and neuter our pets.
May 18, 2008
4:26 p.m.
Suggest removal
johnson writes:
Just apologize. It seems to work for everyone else. If the mother was "very concerned about the child's welfare" she wouldn't have left her with this guy.