First Nominees for 2006 Parents of the Year

[Ponch ®]

San Ramon 'Home Alone' Couple Taken Into Custody

POSTED: 1:46 pm PST January 3, 2006
UPDATED: 10:22 am PST January 5, 2006

SAN RAMON -- A husband and wife who found a dog sitter for their new puppies, but left their 10-year-old son home to care for his younger autistic brother while they celebrated the new year in Las Vegas, were arrested Wednesday, police said.

Jacob Calero, 39, and his wife, Michelle De La Vega, 32, left Calero's sons -- Joshua, 9, and Jason, 5 -- at their San Ramon home early Friday while the newlyweds headed out of town for a five-day trip, police said.

The children's mother, Cristina Calero, died of breast cancer in 2003 and Jacob Calero married De La Vega last year.

Joshua, interviewed Wednesday at his grandmother's apartment in Manteca, said his dad and stepmother got each other puppies for Christmas, and went so far as to bring the pug and the poodle-Maltese mix to De La Vega's mother before leaving town.

"I thought they loved them more than us," the boy said.

The maternal grandmother, Libbey Holden, said she called police after she suspected the couple had left the children behind.

"I had big concerns," Holden said Wednesday, sitting in her apartment filled with family pictures, including smiling portraits of her late daughter. "These kids are helpless."

Police said they found the children asleep in their beds Saturday night, a day after being left alone. A gas fireplace was turned on, but they found nothing out of the ordinary.

"It appears that the food and the environment were set up for them to be alone," San Ramon Police Sgt. Brian Kalinowski said.

The older boy said he was instructed to not answer the front door, so officers had to use a ladder to enter the home through an unlocked sliding glass door on a second-floor balcony.

Kalinowski said Wednesday that neighbors reported hearing the younger boy screaming "Help Me! Help Me!" from inside the family's garage Saturday. They went over to retrieve the boy and, finding no one home, left a note explaining he was at their house. When the older boy returned after about an hour, he picked up his brother and took him back home.

Kalinowski said arresting the husband and wife on suspicion of two felony counts each of child endangerment was a "no-brainer." They were being held at the Martinez jail on $200,000 bail each.

Joshua, who said he was glad his dad was arrested, explained that he and his brother ate cereal for breakfast and cooked frozen dinners in the microwave for lunch and dinner. He said his dad and stepmother left while they were asleep. They had asked him to watch his younger brother, but didn't tell him where they were staying, he said.

"They shouldn't leave us alone," Joshua said, sitting in the living room of his grandmother's apartment. "I didn't know who I could call in an emergency. Even if I called my father, he's far away, so there wouldn't be much he could do."

Holden said she tried calling Calero, but couldn't reach him. Worried, she consulted friends, and finally decided to call authorities.

Officers began calling Calero's cell phone Saturday, but he didn't call back until Tuesday.

"It seems to me that, as a parent, you would take a plane, train or automobile to come back to your kids as soon as possible," Kalinowski said. "We get the sense that they felt no urgency for them to return home."

They flew from Las Vegas early Wednesday and were arrested at Oakland International Airport about 11 a.m. Both have requested lawyers and have refused to talk to police, Kalinowski said. Felony child endangerment carries a maximum sentence of six years in prison.

Joshua said it wasn't the first time he and his brother were left home alone. Last fall, his dad and stepmother kept him out of school for a week so he could baby sit his brother while they went away.

Calero is a plumber and De La Vega works in a dental office, police said.

http://www.ktvu.com/station/5822798/detail.html

[Charger_Fan]

Yeesh.

[TruckDriver]

People like that make me sick

[Afflyer]

As a father of a 13 month old girl- this  me!!!!!

Bradley

[Old Moparz]

Calero is a plumber and De La Vega works in a dental office, police said.

http://www.ktvu.com/station/5822798/detail.html

I have a dentist already, but I wonder if Calero knows his plumbing? It's tough to find a decent plumber that'll show up.   

[Ponch ®]

People like that make me sick

yeah, Vegas is a madhouse on major holidays.

[Johnny SixPack]

People like that make me sick

yeah, Vegas is a madhouse on major holidays.

WTF is it though?

Reno was much more fun, and seedy.

I dunno, only been there once, but LV didn't leave me feeling really impressed.

Although going and renting automatic weapons @ The Gun Store just 3 miles from the Strip was fun.

-sorry for the hi-jack-


As for the dumbash and his **** of a wife, I agree with you guys, these miserable bastards make me sick.

How the hell could you rationalize leaving your 9 yr old to take care of your 5 yr old?

******* people give me the *****.

[Arthu®]

  really if you would even be a tiny bit rational, it wouldn't even cross your mind. I mean the fact that that kind of thing struck someone as a good idea is just downright scary.

Arthur

[Ponch ®]

How the hell could you rationalize leaving your 9 yr old to take care of your 5 yr old?

dude...its New Years. Who wants to stay home?

[Lowprofile]

They would be no loss to the gene pool............ Throw them in the wood chipper.

[adauto]

Loprofile... AMEN!

[Afflyer]

Lowprofile- reminicent of the film; "Fargo" ?!

[Johnny SixPack]

How the hell could you rationalize leaving your 9 yr old to take care of your 5 yr old?

dude...its New Years. Who wants to stay home?

D'oh! I missed that part.

Carry on then.

[ChargerBill]

Complete idiots...I hope they get the maximum WITHOUT parole.

[andy74]

they deserve to rot in jail,frigging scum bags

[MichaelRW]

Both those boneheads should be sterilized.

[Ponch ®]

Both those boneheads should be sterilized.

yeah, but what about the parents?

[Silver R/T]

people like that should be neutered so they do not reproduce dumb #(*$ species like they are

[Ponch ®]

people like that should be neutered so they do not reproduce dumb #(*$ species like they are

are you neutered already then?

[Lowprofile]

people like that should be neutered so they do not reproduce dumb #(*$ species like they are

are you neutered already then?

As cold as you gotta be, Bro.     

[Ponch ®]

As cold as you gotta be, Bro.       

perhaps its time to bring back The Iceman

[mopar_madman]

unfortunatly for these idiots, they'll get a slap on the wrist and have the kids back.

[5.9_Liter_Grand_Cherokee]

I still believe that if they repealed the seatbelt and helmet laws, they would raise the IQ level in the gene pool within 2 years. 

perhaps its time to bring back The Iceman

The Iceman cometh?  Does that mean Maverick isn't far behind?