Father leaves children in car for two days

Two little boys are safe at home with their mother after sheriff's deputies say their father left them in a car with no food for up to two days while he was out drinking. That father, 27-year-old Richard Labo of Hillsdale, is in the Jackson County Jail after being arraigned on two felony counts of second-degree child abuse.

"He'd picked them up from their mother's house on Thursday, driven around for a couple of days partying, while they were in the back of the vehicle," explained Lt. Brad Piros of the Jackson County Sheriff's Office.

Piros says Labo's little boys - aged just four and six - were found hungry and upset early on Sunday morning in a 1994 Pontiac Grand Prix. "The kids indicated they'd had a little bit of candy to eat over the period of two days," Piros says.



"There were beer cans located in the vehicle. Six to eight empties, also two half-full beer cans located in between the two front seats," he says.

Deputies don't know where this alleged drinking bender started, but they do know where it ended: Gypsy's in Summit Township. That's where they say someone saw the little guys sleeping in the car all alone and called 911.

Both Labo and his brother, Eric, were arrested at the scene, but Eric will not face charges because he's not legally obligated to the kids. The boys were taken by deputies, given something to eat, then returned to their mother. Authorities say Labo could face eight years in prison for his weekend of mistakes.

With news video.