Two men charged for leaving child in car while drinking in bar

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Authorities have charged two men with first-degree endangering the welfare of a child after they allegedly left a 2-year-old girl in a car while they were in a Perryville bar Wednesday night.

Witnesses told investigators Joshua Jason Loucks, 18, of Frohna, Mo., and James Harrison Waller, 26, of Perryville, left the child in a green Mazda passenger car about 10:30 p.m. and entered the 505 Club, 214 N. Main St. When police arrived on the scene, they found the men sitting on a concrete ramp near the vehicle, according to a probable-cause statement.

The statement said police noted the windows to the vehicle were closed, the doors locked and the toddler asleep in a car seat in the car. Waller told investigators the child was his stepdaughter, but the men had not been in the bar long.

A bartender confirmed Waller had been in the business for more than an hour and Waller had consumed three beers.

Pertinent address:

214 N. Main St., Perryville, MO