Blinded boy case: Police found drug residue in baby's crib in 2006
| Thursday, May 21 2009 05:37 PM
Last Updated Thursday, May 21 2009 05:46 PM
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Photograph of Angelo Mendoza Jr., courtesy of KBAK TV.
handout photograph of Angelo Mendoza Sr.
Most parents would lovingly place a favorite stuffed animal in their baby's crib.
But Angelo Mendoza may have stashed his drug supply where his infant son slept, according to police reports examined Thursday.
The incident came in 2006 when police were at the child's home and found a plastic pill bottled wrapped up with then baby Angelo Mendoza Jr. Inside the bottle was possible drug residue.
Several weeks ago, Angelo's father, Angel Mendoza, allegedly attacked the boy and bit out one of his eyes and damaged the other. Angelo is now blind.
The revelation raises the question: Why did Mendoza ever get back custody of his son?
Both Mendoza and the mother, Desirae Bermudez, were arrested on charges of being under the influence of PCP and child endangerment in the 2006 incident.
As the parents were driven to jail, baby Angelo was taken to the Jamison Center in the custody of Child Protective Services.
How long he stayed in protective custody is unknown, but Mendoza's brother said Thursday he was unaware that the child was ever taken away.
The brother, Jesse Rosas, 26, is now trying to obtain custody of Angelo.
Could Mendoza have quickly regained custody of a baby under those circumstances?
CPS program director Brian Parnell said can't talk about a specific case, unless there's a death or near death.
But Parnell said when a child goes to Jamison Center, what happens next can vary. In some cases the child will be placed with a relative. In other cases the parent can end up having to go to court and there could be restrictions before the child can be returned.
At a minimum, CPS would do an assessment before returning an endangered child to a parent, Parnell said. That could include drug testing, anger management or parenting classes before a child is returned, he said.
In Mendoza's 2006 criminal case, he got no jail time, three years probation and an order to attend a year-long parenting class, which he successfully completed. He pleaded no contest to misdemeanor child endangerment.
Now the 34-year-old father is accused of mayhem, torture and child cruelty. He's scheduled to be in court today for a status hearing.
In recent years, several parents have praised Mendoza's relationship with his son -- one noting that Mendoza won a parent participation award an an Oildale Head Start School.
But new revelations describe Mendoza as harsh, "wild eyed" and drugged in the week before the attack.
Bermudez told KBAK that she had gone to Mendoza's home hours before the attack to deliver a pizza. Her son was begging to go home with her, she said.
She said heard the boy cry, "Mommy, mommy, I want to go with you. I'm scared."
Bermudez, herself wanted on a $15,000 warrant for failing to complete a drug treatment class in the 2006 case, said she decided to leave then.
Another man, Harvey Clowers, who has played wheelchair basketball with Mendoza, told KBAK that recently Mendoza "had a wild look in his eyes" and appeared to be under the influence of something.
Mendoza, who has been wheelchair bound for four years after he was paralyzed in a stabbing, showed symptoms of PCP use the day he attacked his son, police reported.
Right after the attack, Mendoza hacked his own legs with an ax.
While there's been virtually no sympathy for his injuries, there's been global sympathy for his little boy.
People want to know how to help the boy.
The uncle, Jesse Rosas, went to the bank Thursday to set up a fund to help the child. He did not return calls later in the day for specifics.
Rosas said he is seeking custody because Angelo gets along well with his wife and their own children -- a boy, 9, and a girl, 3.
Rosas, a homeowner who has worked the last 4 and 1/2 years in the oilfields, said Angelo loved to play on the backyard swing set with his own children or come in and watch a movie with the adults.
Unlike Mendoza. Rosas has no criminal record.
He said he's a graduate of Centennial High School and sent to Taft College for a year and a half. He said is working with Child Protective Services on his application for custody and he fully expects a complete background check and home inspection.
Rosas is a member of Forever Changed, a Christian sport motorcycle group which is also planning fund raising events on Angelo's behalf, including a bike run on June 14. Details are still being worked out, he said.
The uncle said he doesn't have first hand information about how Angelo is doing because CPS is not disclosing that to the family. Hospital officials have confirmed Angelo is no longer at Kern Medical Center, but although CPS says the boy is in protective custody, CPS has not disclosed where.
