Grandfather paid stranger $20 to watch 7-year-old so he could drink at bar, Sacramento sheriff says
"I just wanted to make sure she was safe and that she's okay," the unhoused woman who cared for the child said.
"I just wanted to make sure she was safe and that she's okay," the unhoused woman who cared for the child said.
"I just wanted to make sure she was safe and that she's okay," the unhoused woman who cared for the child said.
Sacramento deputies arrested a man accused of losing track of his 7-year-old granddaughter after paying a stranger to watch her so he could go to a bar.
Jason Warren, 54, had given the unknown woman $20 to take the girl to a nearby thrift store on Monday, the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office said. The woman was identified as Lauren Jope, 34, who is unhoused and stays at a camp near Auburn Boulevard.
"This guy asked me, 'Hey, can you go into the store with my [granddaughter] to buy a pair of shorts and I was like, 'Okay, no problem.' He was like you know buy yourself a few things and I’ll give you some money or whatever, so I said okay," Jope said.
Deputies first responded to the parking lot of The Cinder's Bar on Auburn Boulevard near Hemlock Street around 7:45 p.m. People who called 911 said Warren had been asking for help, alleging that his granddaughter had been kidnapped for human trafficking, according to the sheriff’s office.
Warren, who was “heavily intoxicated” when deputies made contact with him, said he’d paid an unhoused woman to watch the girl before going into the bar four hours earlier, the sheriff's office said.
Jope said after she and the girl came out of the thrift shop, she noticed Warren was acting strange so she wanted to protect the child.
"The guy is just totally belligerently drunk and just kind of scary. He turned into a totally different person, and so I got his granddaughter away until things kind of simmered down, because I didn’t know what was really going on," Jope said. "I just wanted to make sure she was safe and that she's okay."
Jope said she took the 7-year-old girl to her encampment to play with her dog and to get some food.
Deputies who responded to the scene asked The Cinder's Bar for surveillance footage. Video showed Jope leaving with the child. Bar owner Andy Soto said he was glad he could help law enforcement officials with their search for the girl.
"Thankfully I was able to go through some of the information with them and show them the angles and the actual physical description of the person who took the child," Soto said.
Soto added that Warren was a first-time customer, and he said he noticed "red flags" because of Warren's behavior.
"This guy was being very erratic, being very loud and ultimately was asked to leave," Soto said. "He kind of scared a couple of other customers and then about 20 minutes later was asked to go away."
Soto also said Warren never mentioned that he had brought his granddaughter to the area. Upon learning what had happened from deputies, Soto said he was shocked.
"It's kind of a serious thing. Where's your granddaughter? Why are you at a bar drinking if you're in charge of this child's life? It's really not where you need to be," Soto said. "Hopefully he gets whatever help he needs. I'm glad that the girl was found safely."
The sheriff's office said the girl was located because the sheriff's helicopter broadcasted a PA announcement across the area, describing what Jope was wearing as seen in the surveillance video provided by Soto. Jope said she heard that announcement and took the girl back to The Cinder's Bar parking lot.
"All of a sudden, the helicopters going around and saying, 'Attention on the ground,' and it says her name and it describes me and I'm like, 'Oh okay, what's going on now.' So we just went right around the corner and we were like, 'Hey we're right here,'" Jope said.
The sheriff's office said the girl was returned unharmed.
The sheriff's office interviewed Jope. She told deputies she didn’t think the grandfather could care for the girl, so she took the child to her camp to get food.
The child, who corroborated the account, was not in distress and was medically cleared.
Sacramento County Sheriff's Office spokesperson Amar Gandhi said the department is hailing Jope as a hero for keeping the girl out of harm's way.
"For lack of a better term, she's a guardian angel," Gandhi said. "I can't recognize this woman enough, Lauren. I can't sing her praises high enough for again just having the wherewithal to see that this girl is in danger, I’m going to do everything I can to protect her," Gandhi said.
According to the sheriff’s office, the child’s aunt had full custody of the girl and had asked the grandfather to watch her because she had to work.
The child was allowed to return home to the aunt.
Warren was arrested for felony child endangerment and other charges. He is being held at the Sacramento County Main Jail on $75,000 bail and is due in court on May 8.
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