Video: Man arrested who abandoned 5-year-old daughter before dawn at Ogden college

OGDEN, Utah, Oct. 21, 2016 (Gephardt Daily) — Ogden Police officers have arrested a man they say left his 5-year-old daughter outdoors in the cold, pre-dawn hours of Oct. 9 at the Ogden Weber Applied Technology College.

The Ogden Police Department located Adrian Justin Sanchez, 41, on Friday at a residence in Ogden. He was arrested without incident and will be booked into the Weber County Jail for child abandonment.

Ogden Special Victim Unit Investigators obtained an arrest warrant for Sanchez, and the Second District Court Ogden issued the warrant for child abandonment Thursday.

Ogden Police Lt. Tim Scott said OWATC security reported a “found child in their parking lot” at the 200 N. Washington Blvd. campus. The girl told police her father, Sanchez, left her on the campus.

Video evidence depicts the girl was left on campus around 5 a.m., according to a news release issued Thursday. Officers arrived around 7:30 a.m. and the outside temperature at that time was 39 degrees.

The girl was wearing pajama leggings, shoes, and a shirt that night, and she also had blankets with her.

Ogden Police Special Victim Unit and Family Services were notified, and began an investigation into the incident, and the girl was placed in the care of her mother.

Adrian Sanchez. Photo: Weber County
Adrian Sanchez Photo Weber County

Investigators learned from interviewing the victim that she didn’t know why she was left on the campus. She reported Sanchez told her he would be back. She also reported she called out for him as he was walking away, but that he didn’t stop and didn’t return.

Scott said the father does not have a connection with the college, other than that he was staying with his parents a few blocks away and his daughter was with him for the weekend. There does not appear to be a motive for why the father left his daughter there, although Scott said there have been some reports that the man has been using drugs.

“We don’t know really what purpose he’d take the child, if there was a drug-induced event, or some kind of psychosis,” said Scott.

Ogden Police posted on Facebook Friday: “We would like to express our appreciation for the public’s help and concern in this investigation.”

Click below for school surveillance footage of that night:

Surveillance captured this image of a man leaving a girl on the campus of the Ogden-Weber Applied Technology College, in Ogden. Image: OWATC

Click below for school surveillance footage of that night:

Surveillance captured this image of a man leaving a girl on the campus of the Ogden-Weber Applied Technology College, in Ogden. Image: OWATC
Surveillance captured this image of a man leaving a girl on the campus of the Ogden Weber Applied Technology College in Ogden Image OWATC

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