N.J. Father Allegedly Left Children Alone To Go To Outlet Mall On Black Friday

CENTRAL VALLEY, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) – A New Jersey father has been charged with endangering the welfare of children for allegedly leaving his young children alone to go to the Woodbury Common Premium Outlets early Friday.

Investigators say Toru Sakaguchi, of Princeton, left his children at a Hampton Inn in Central Valley.

The hotel called police after a 4-year-old boy was found crying in the hallway, CBS2's Lou Young reported.

The hotel called Sakaguchi via the number they had given the front desk around 4:30 a.m.

When police arrived and went to the child's room, they say they found an 11-year-old girl who was handicapped and unable to open the door for her brother.

When the parents returned returned, police said Sakaguchi said it was all a misunderstanding.

"He tried to excuse it by saying, 'My intention was to come right away, right back,'" Chief Richard Vasquez said.

But Vasquez said they had been left alone about an hour and a half.

"HIs explanation was that his wife was shopping and he was going to pick her up.  He said his wife made him wait for more than an hour and it took him longer than he thought," Vasquez said.

Following the incident, Young reported the family checked out of the hotel and went back to the shopping center.

"I guess they figured they were down here, but they had the kids with them this time," Vasquez said.

The father was given a desk appearance ticket and a court return date of December 10th at which time he'll have to appear before a judge.

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