CA: Husband, wife arrested after leaving children in San Ramon

ap on Bakersfield Californian ^ | 1/4/06 | Juliana Barbassa -a p

[NormsRevenge]

MANTECA, Calif. (AP) - A husband and wife who found a dog sitter for their new puppies, but left their 10-year-old son home to care for his younger autistic brother while they celebrated the new year in Las Vegas, were arrested Wednesday, police said.

Jacob Calero and his wife, Michelle De la Vega, left Calero's sons - Joshua, 10, and Jason, 5 - at their San Ramon home early Friday while the newlyweds headed out of town for a five-day trip, police said.

The children's mother, Cristina Calero, died of breast cancer in 2003 and Calero married De la Vega last year.

The maternal grandmother, Libbey Holden, said she called police after she suspected the couple had left the children behind.

"I had big concerns," Holden said Wednesday, sitting in her Manteca apartment filled with family pictures, including smiling portraits of her late daughter. "These kids are helpless."

Police said they found the children asleep in their beds Saturday night, a day after being left alone. A gas fireplace was turned on, but they found nothing out of the ordinary.

"It appears that the food and the environment were set up for them to be alone," San Ramon Police Sgt. Brian Kalinowski said.

The older boy said he was instructed to not answer the front door, so officers had to use a ladder to enter the home through an unlocked sliding glass door on a second-floor balcony.

Joshua said he and his brother ate cereal for breakfast and cooked frozen dinners in the microwave for lunch and dinner. He said his dad and stepmother left Friday morning while they were asleep. They had asked him to watch his younger brother, but didn't tell him where they were staying, he said.

"They shouldn't leave us alone," Joshua said, sitting in the living room of his grandmother's apartment. "I didn't know who I could call in an emergency. Even if I called my father, he's far away, so there wouldn't be much he could do."

Joshua said the couple got each other puppies for Christmas, and went so far as to bring the pug and the poodle-Maltese mix to De la Cruz's mother before leaving town.

"I thought they loved them more than us," the boy said.

Holden said she tried calling Calero, but couldn't reach him. Worried, she consulted friends, and finally decided to call authorities.

Officers began calling Calero's cell phone Saturday, but he didn't call back until Tuesday.

They flew from Las Vegas early Wednesday and were arrested at Oakland International Airport and jailed in Contra Costa County.

The exact charges were not immediately clear. Authorities scheduled a late afternoon news conference.

Joshua said it wasn't the first time he and his brother were left home alone. Last fall, his dad and stepmother kept him out of school for a week so he could baby sit his brother while they went away.

Calero and De la Cruz are both cosmetic dentists in Santa Clara.

---

Associated Press Writer Kim Curtis contributed to this story from San Francisco.

[GrandEagle]

while the newlyweds headed out of town for a five-day trip

You gotta be kidding!!!
Poor children.

Words escape me......

GE

[calex59]

there are a lot of Caliphobes out there!:) Some people think that if CA were to just dissapear the US would snap back to normal, totally forgetting MA and other blue state bastions. Most of the people who bash CA act as if there are only liberals living here, totally forgetting the 40 percent of us who are conservative. Last crime of this type I heard about occured in a southern state, I think it was W. VA.

[The_Republican]

They should shave their heads, and put them in cages in a mall, naked, so people can spit on them.

[little jeremiah]

The stocks need a come back.

[Right Cal Gal]

Not only that, but when you consider that for the last three days, and ESPECIALLY New Year's Eve day, much of Northern California, especially the area near San Ramon, was flooded and in some places without power, with mudslides in the 680 area (where San Ramon is located), those children could have been left without power, which could have put their lives in danger.

I can understand the Grandmother calling authorities instead of going over there. Manteca is quite a ways from San Ramon and she probably called police to expedite getting help to her grandsons if they needed it.

They should be pelted with rotten eggs at their perp walk.

[madprof98]

I don't know where you get the idea that most of the stories of this nature originate from California.

I didn't say most of the stories like this (how many "dentists abandon children" stories could there be anyhow?) originate in California. I said the behavior here really sounds Californian. How so? Well, this is how little jeremiah (comment #18) characterized it:

Personal pleasure trumps responsibility, instant gratification trumps duty, me-me-me trumps natural family affection.

That sounds to me like a good summary of the mindset of California today. I know that from having lived there a while myself and from having an adult son who lives there today.

But it's not just my personal impression. Indeed, it's something many people actually take pride in. Ever hear of a novel called Ecotopia, the story of a country that seceded from the US to form a land where nature and mankind live in perfect harmony--in other words, a land full of spacey, self-absorbed nutcases like the parents in this story. The states in question were Washington, Oregon and (of course) CALIFORNIA. Something like that could never, ever be written about Utah, South Dakota, Nebraska, Indiana or my home state of Georgia, nor would liberal professors assign it to their hapless students. Face it: it wouldn't be realistic.

[notpoliticallycorewrecked]

See post 22.

[rzeznikj at stout]

All Very Good Points.

These sickos don't deserve to have kids. They're beyond selfish.

If they can worry about two puppies, but not their kids, there is something seriously wrong.

I say, take away their dental licenses and commit them where they belong--in a "Nutt-House". Ten or twenty years should correct this behavior.

[madprof98]

I don't dispute post #22. California is not quite Sodom and Gomorrah yet, and I hope God will spare it for the 40% (bet it's substantially less myself) who describe themselves as conservative. But, still, when I think of the very wrong direction this country has taken since the '60s--and the very real harm that direction has done to our children--the vanguard of the Self-Absorbed Nutcases is clearly California. I don't see how anyone could deny it.

[notpoliticallycorewrecked]

I still think that you are painting with a very broad brush. If you look at the red/blue map of California you will a section along the coast that is definitely a liberal stronghold, but the rest of the state has conservative values. After all, this conservative website originated and operates out of California. Me thinks that Jim Robinson isn't very liberal. WE are doing everything we can to reverse the trend of liberalism in California.

There are many other areas of our country that would also qualify as having a large number of loony liberal lefties. Atlanta for example?

[NormsRevenge]

Ten-year-old Joshua Calero, left, and his five-year-old brother Jason Calero are seen at their grandmother's apartment, Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2006, in Manteca, Calif. A husband and wife who found a dog sitter for their new puppies, but left their 10-year-old son, Joshua Calero, home to care for his younger brother Jason, while they celebrated the new year in Las Vegas, were arrested Wednesday, police said. Jacob Calero and his wife, Michelle De la Vega, left Calero's sons Joshua and Jason at their San Ramon home early Friday while the newlyweds headed out of town for a five-day trip, police said. (AP Photo/Al Golub)

[NormsRevenge]

UPDATE

from yahoo

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060105/ap_on_re_us/home_alone;_ylt=AqCpOAiQS3p1E.H7UQ1NZXis0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA3b2NibDltBHNlYwM3MTY-

They are not cosmetic dentists..




Calif. Husband, Wife Leave Sons Home Alone By JULIANA BARBASSA, Associated Press Writer
11 minutes ago



MANTECA, Calif. - A husband and wife who found a dog sitter for their new puppies, but left their 9-year-old son home to care for his younger autistic brother while they celebrated the new year in Las Vegas, were arrested Wednesday, police said.

Jacob Calero, 39, and his wife, Michelle De La Vega, 32, left Calero's sons — Joshua and Jason, 5 — at their San Ramon home early Friday while the newlyweds headed out of town for a five-day trip, police said.

The children's mother, Cristina Calero, died of breast cancer in 2003 and Jacob Calero married De La Vega last year.

Joshua, interviewed Wednesday at his maternal grandmother's apartment in Manteca, said his dad and stepmother got each other puppies for Christmas, and went so far as to bring the pug and the poodle-Maltese mix to De La Vega's mother before leaving town.

"I thought they loved them more than us," the boy said.

The grandmother, Libbey Holden, said she called police after she suspected the couple had left the children behind.

"I had big concerns," Holden said Wednesday, sitting in her apartment filled with family pictures, including smiling portraits of her late daughter. "These kids are helpless."

Police said they found the children asleep in their beds Saturday night, a day after being left alone. A gas fireplace was turned on, but they found nothing out of the ordinary.

"It appears that the food and the environment were set up for them to be alone," San Ramon Police Sgt. Brian Kalinowski said.

The older boy said he was instructed to not answer the front door, so officers had to use a ladder to enter the home through an unlocked sliding glass door on a second-floor balcony.

Neighbors went to the house Saturday after hearing the younger boy screaming "Help me! Help me!" in the family's garage, Kalinowski said. Finding no one home, they took him to their house and left a note behind. When Joshua returned after about an hour, he took his brother home.

Arresting the husband and wife on suspicion of two felony counts each of child endangerment was a "no-brainer," Kalinowski said. They were each being held at the Martinez jail in lieu of $200,000 bail.

Joshua, who said he was glad his father was arrested, explained that he and his brother ate cereal for breakfast and cooked frozen dinners in the microwave for other meals. He said his dad and stepmother left while they were asleep. They had asked him to watch his younger brother, but didn't tell him where they were staying, he said.

"They shouldn't leave us alone," Joshua said, sitting in the living room of his grandmother's apartment. "I didn't know who I could call in an emergency. Even if I called my father, he's far away, so there wouldn't be much he could do."

Holden said she tried calling Calero, but couldn't reach him. Worried, she consulted friends, and finally decided to call authorities.

Officers began calling Calero's cell phone Saturday, but he didn't call back until Tuesday.

"It seems to me that, as a parent, you would take a plane, train or automobile to come back to your kids as soon as possible," Kalinowski said. "We get the sense that they felt no urgency for them to return home."

They flew from Las Vegas early Wednesday and were arrested at Oakland International Airport about 11 a.m. Both have requested lawyers and have refused to talk to police, Kalinowski said. Felony child endangerment carries a maximum sentence of six years in prison.

Joshua said it wasn't the first time he and his brother were left home alone. Last fall, his dad and stepmother kept him out of school for a week so he could baby sit his brother while they went away.

Calero is a plumber and De La Vega works in a dental office, police said.

[Aquinasfan]

Joshua said the couple got each other puppies for Christmas, and went so far as to bring the pug and the poodle-Maltese mix to De la Cruz's mother before leaving town. "I thought they loved them more than us," the boy said.

Sadly, he's right. God save the children.

[mrs tiggywinkle]

see post 22