ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A scary situation unfolded for officers and security guards in northeast Albuquerque as they broke into a car to save two infants trapped inside this weekend.
“Oh he is just soaked. He is soaked,” one officer said.
“My guy is too,” a second officer, who grabbed the second child, said.
The 20-month-old twins were in the car for more than 2 1/2 hours overnight Saturday, stuck in the parking lot of Dirty Bourbon.
Security guard says “something told him to patrol”
On body camera footage, Dirty Bourbon security guards were heard telling officers, “something told me ‘you need to go patrol.’” When they went on patrol, one of them said he saw two little feet and the windows up.
Once they realized what happened, they called officers around 1:30 a.m. and smashed the driver’s window to let air in. When officers arrived shortly after, they got the babies out within minutes. They were covered in sweat, soiled, and appeared to be unconscious.
“You okay baby? Oh my goodness. You okay little guy?” an officer said after getting one of the children out. “I’m glad you guys found him!”
“Thank you guys for showing up as quick as you did,” a security guard said.
“You are hot little guy! You are roasting! Oh my goodness!” the officer said.
How hot could the car have been?
According to the guards and APD, the air conditioning was not running and the windows weren’t cracked. Officers looked at Dirty Bourbon’s logs and said the father had his ID scanned at 10:54 p.m., meaning they were in the car for more than 2 1/2 hours when they were rescued around 1:40 a.m.
The temperature around that time was 78 degrees, meaning the inside of the car with no ventilation could have been as high as 130 degrees.
Father shows up right when kids are being rescued
Around the same time the children were rescued, the infants’ father, Stephan Natseway, showed up.
According to court documents, Natseway told officers he went to the bar to “have time for himself” and tried to get someone to watch them, but the children’s mother and family members weren’t available. Then he reportedly told officers he “would not have stayed long but due to people dancing with him he was unable to leave.”
“It just appeared like he had no remorse. He was more concerned about the fact that he was in trouble,” APD Public Information Officer Gilbert Gallegos said.
“Am I going to jail for this?” Natseway was heard asking an officer on body camera footage.
“Let us figure out what’s going on, man,” the officer responded.
“He asked if he would be going to jail and was upset about that,” Gallegos continued. “And at least at the beginning stages, he didn’t ask about the kids whether they were okay or anything like that.”
Officers at the scene arrested Natseway for child abuse and abandonment of a child. Monday, Natseway went before a judge for the first time. The judge decided there was enough probable cause to move forward with a detention hearing. At the time of publication, it had not been set yet, but there he’ll find out if he’s staying in jail until his trial.
APD: ‘it could have been a lot worse’
“It’s just beyond me what could have been going through. He had to quote unquote ‘take a risk.’ I mean, he was taking a risk with the lives of his children.”
Officers on scene were in disbelief.
“Holy sh** dude they just came from Dirty Bourbon. They’re all dressed up,” one officer said.
“That’s child abuse,” another officer said.
“At its finest,” an officer responded.
AFR arrived on scene and took the kids to the hospital. Gallegos said they are okay and are now in CYFD custody.
Natseway was with his friend, Orry Morris, who is also facing child abuse charges and an endangerment charge. APD said he was in the car with Natseway and admitted to knowing the kids were left behind. He is scheduled to go before a judge Wednesday.
CYFD responds
CYFD responded with the following statement
“The hospital examined the children and discharged them after evaluation. Because the Indian Child Welfare Act applies here, CYFD notified the appropriate tribe or pueblo, which initially exercised jurisdiction to complete the investigation. The children were released to a family member, and tribal social services completed a home visit to ensure safety. After 4:00 PM today, the tribe notified the department that they would not be keeping jurisdiction, so CYFD will complete the investigation. CYFD was notified that the children remain with the family member.”
