ESCANABA, MI-- An Escanaba man has been arrested for child abuse, after a toddler he was watching wandered outside and became hypothermic.
Public Safety officers say Sunday around 6:50 p.m. Central Dispatch received a call about an unresponsive 3-year-old boy on the 500 block of South 17th Street. Responding officers were met by a 27-year-old man carrying the boy to first responders.
Police say the man, identified as Michael Madril, was watching the boy and his 5-year-old brother. He told investigators he had fallen asleep for an undetermined amount of time. He also admitted to drug use before he fell asleep.
When Madril woke up he couldn’t find the toddler. He told officers he searched the house and saw the back door slightly open. When Madril opened the door he saw the 3-year-old lying on the ground at the bottom of the steps wearing only a diaper. Madril called the boy’s mother, who called 911.
The boy was taken to OSF St. Francis Hospital and stabilized, then airlifted to Children’s Hospital in Milwaukee for treatment of hypothermia. He has since been released.
Madril was arrested for 2nd degree child abuse and lodged in the Delta County Jail on a $150,000 cash/surety bond.
Madril is also the suspect in an animal torture case. An abused puppy had to be euthanized because its injuries were too extensive to treat.
