Dad Arrested After Amber Alert For Daughter Is Charged With Domestic Violence
DETROIT (WWJ) - A 41-year-old Dearborn Heights man is facing domestic violence charges following an investigation and Amber Alert for his daughter.
Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy on Thursday charged Toddy Ray Poupard with second degree domestic violence for assaulting his 36-year-old wife. He was given a $25,000 cash bond and is due back in court on April 14.
Poupard was arrested after police spent hours looking for his 8-year-old daughter, Haley. The whole thing started around 3:30 a.m. Wednesday, when police were dispatched to the Comfort Inn and Suites on Telegraph Road near I-94 in Taylor on a missing persons report.
When police arrived on the scene, Poupard and his wife told them that they had just gotten there with their three children and left Haley, who was sleeping, in their truck while they went inside. When they returned to their vehicle, Haley had apparently vanished. But as it turns out, the girl was never there in the first place.
According to reports, the family ended up at the hotel after being evicted from their Dearborn Heights home. Police say the parents loaded up their vehicles and left the home in such a rush, they apparently forgot Haley behind. Haley was found safe at the home nearly five hours after she was reported missing.
Prosecutors say the assault against Poupard's wife took place at the hotel sometime between 3 and 3:29 a.m., before police arrived on the scene.
Taylor Police Chief Mary Sclabassi said both Poupard and his wife were taken into police custody after Haley was recovered, pending possible child neglect charges. Haley and her siblings, ages 10 and 16, were turned over to the custody of a grandparent.
Prosecutors say Poupard's wife is no longer in custody, although the child neglect matter remains under police investigation.
MORE: Amber Alert Cancelled, Parents Arrested After Missing 8-Year-Old Girl Found At Home
