A Minnesota man is facing two counts of felony child neglect after police say he left his two young children in a Spotsylvania hotel room while he went to a bar.

Date published: 7/25/2008

BY ELLEN BILTZ

A Minnesota man was charged with child neglect today after he left his kids in a Spotsylvania hotel room surrounded by beer cans, authorities said

1st Sgt. Liz Scott of the Spotsylvania Sheriff’s Office said the children, ages 3 and 4, were found alone in a room at the Heritage Inn near Four-Mile Fork after the hotel manager called police to report suspected child neglect.

The manager had seen the kids wandering through the parking lot and talking to other guests.

Scott said the children were found shortly after midnight surrounded by about a dozen empty beer cans and several open cans had been left in the refrigerator.

The children told deputies they didn’t know where their father, 31-year-old John Henry Dziewit, had gone, Scott said.

Deputies searched for Dziewit and after coming across his car parked at the nearby Ramada Inn, she said, police found Dziewit sitting at the hotel bar.

When asked about his children, Dziewit refused to talk with deputies, Scott said.

But later at the magistrate’s office, Dziewit indicated that he thought he was still in Minnesota and said he had dropped off his ex-wife Richmond. Deputies were not able to contact her, Scott said.

She said the children are in the care of Child Protective Services and Dziewit is being held without bond at the Rappahannock Regional Jail on two counts of felony child neglect.

Ellen Biltz: 540/374-5424

ebiltz@freelancestar.com

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Date published: 7/25/2008

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