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MCSO: Man left granddaughter, 5, in desert with loaded gun
A Buckeye man is accused of child abuse and endangerment after police say he left his 5-year-old granddaughter alone in the desert with only a loaded and ready-to-fire .45-caliber handgun on Sunday, according to the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office.
Paul Rater, 53, told deputies he gave the girl a gun and left her under a tree because she complained that she couldn't walk anymore, a Sheriff's Office statement said.
An off-duty firefighter and the girl's grandmother, who along with others had been scouring the desert by ATV, eventually located the girl Sunday night after hearing a small voice respond to people calling her name about five miles east of State Route 85 and south of the Gila River.
The girl was reported missing Sunday evening, approximately four hours after she left with Rater in his new pickup truck, officials said. The Sheriff's Office did not say what happened to the truck, but records show that, at some point, the pair ended up on foot.
The child, who was unharmed, was holding the firearm when she was found. It was fully loaded, with one round in the chamber and the hammer locked back, according to a probable-cause statement. The firefighter drove the girl out of the desert on an ATV, and she was reunited with her mother at about 7:15 p.m.
About an hour earlier, Rater's wife reported that he called her from the South Buckeye Equestrian Center and demanded that she pick him up. He ordered a cheeseburger and drank up to four alcoholic beverages before making the call, according to the Sheriff's Office.
Deputies met him instead. Rater said he left his granddaughter in the desert with his pistol and went to get help after the girl said she couldn't walk anymore.
"While he was looking for help, he came across multiple people and never thought he should call 911," deputies allege in a probable-cause statement. "He said he did ask the people to look for his granddaughter because he left her in the desert."
Equestrian center employees said Rater showed up at about 5:30 p.m. He never mentioned his granddaughter, they said, but he did complain about having been stuck in the desert and walking for ten miles.
"I don't know why papa left me," a deputy reported overhearing the girl tell her grandmother. "He took me by some bushes, gave me a gun and left me."
Rater was booked into a Maricopa County jail on suspicion of endangerment and two counts of reckless child abuse.
Also remember remember this AZ classic thread
http://www.thecoli.com/threads/9-ye...oots-her-shooting-instructor-with-uzi.243691/
A Buckeye man is accused of child abuse and endangerment after police say he left his 5-year-old granddaughter alone in the desert with only a loaded and ready-to-fire .45-caliber handgun on Sunday, according to the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office.
Paul Rater, 53, told deputies he gave the girl a gun and left her under a tree because she complained that she couldn't walk anymore, a Sheriff's Office statement said.
An off-duty firefighter and the girl's grandmother, who along with others had been scouring the desert by ATV, eventually located the girl Sunday night after hearing a small voice respond to people calling her name about five miles east of State Route 85 and south of the Gila River.
The girl was reported missing Sunday evening, approximately four hours after she left with Rater in his new pickup truck, officials said. The Sheriff's Office did not say what happened to the truck, but records show that, at some point, the pair ended up on foot.
The child, who was unharmed, was holding the firearm when she was found. It was fully loaded, with one round in the chamber and the hammer locked back, according to a probable-cause statement. The firefighter drove the girl out of the desert on an ATV, and she was reunited with her mother at about 7:15 p.m.
About an hour earlier, Rater's wife reported that he called her from the South Buckeye Equestrian Center and demanded that she pick him up. He ordered a cheeseburger and drank up to four alcoholic beverages before making the call, according to the Sheriff's Office.
Deputies met him instead. Rater said he left his granddaughter in the desert with his pistol and went to get help after the girl said she couldn't walk anymore.
"While he was looking for help, he came across multiple people and never thought he should call 911," deputies allege in a probable-cause statement. "He said he did ask the people to look for his granddaughter because he left her in the desert."
Equestrian center employees said Rater showed up at about 5:30 p.m. He never mentioned his granddaughter, they said, but he did complain about having been stuck in the desert and walking for ten miles.
"I don't know why papa left me," a deputy reported overhearing the girl tell her grandmother. "He took me by some bushes, gave me a gun and left me."
Rater was booked into a Maricopa County jail on suspicion of endangerment and two counts of reckless child abuse.
Also remember remember this AZ classic thread
http://www.thecoli.com/threads/9-ye...oots-her-shooting-instructor-with-uzi.243691/
