Lakeville parents charged with child neglect

A couple that was reported missing from Lakeville last week has been charged with neglecting their two young children during the five days they spent living in a car they'd taken from the man's mother.

Zachariah Daniel Wilson, 38, and Angela Dee Robinson, 33, were charged Thursday in Dakota County with child neglect. They also face charges for stealing Wilson's mother's car.

The couple and their two young children, ages 4 and 7, were reported missing on Oct. 21 by Wilson's mother. Robinson and the children were living with his mother at the time, but Wilson was not allowed in the house.

According to the criminal complaint, Robinson asked to borrow Wilson's mother's car to bring Wilson to a friend's house. But the couple and children didn't return home, despite the fact that Wilson called twice to say they'd be home soon.

A friend sent Robinson a message asking if she was OK. Robinson replied that she was stressed. Both of the couple's phones were turned off the next day. After the family was reported missing, police spoke to a friend of Wilson's, who said he'd run into him at a grocery store in Montgomery, Minn. Wilson told him that Robinson had lost her phone. He could see Robinson and the children in the car, but didn't talk to them.

Members of Robinson's family told police that it was unusual for her to disappear. They said Wilson had abused Robinson in the past. Wilson also allegedly said that if he can't have Robinson, then no one else will.

A friend of hers told police that Wilson was intoxicated several months ago when he told his 7-year-old son that he was going to kill the whole family and make the boy watch. A member of Wilson's family described him as paranoid and violent.

Wilson had previously been charged for an incident in March in West St. Paul where officers found him slumped in the driver's seat of a car with a mixed drink in the center console. A breath test later showed that Wilson had a .18 blood alcohol level. After police brought him to the station, Wilson told an officer that he could have his vehicle tracked, knew gangs, and told the officer they could "fist it up," among other threats.

On Tuesday, the family was finally located in south Minneapolis. A delivery driver spotted saw a man and woman standing near the loading dock of a grocery store at 3 a.m. The man had on a ski mask, sunglasses and gloves. The woman, who police identified as Robinson, had her collar pulled up and was wearing a hat and sunglasses.

The driver said he saw Robinson slap a young child when the boy jumped up in the backseat. Wilson blocked the driver from seeing the license plate and fled. The driver followed the couple, and called police.

Searching the car after it was stopped, police found a syringe in the center console. Robinson is on methadone and is a former pill and heroin user. Police said she and the children both smelled strongly. The 7-year-old boy told a social worker that they'd been sleeping in the car for five days, during which he hadn't bathed or brushed his teeth. They missed meals as well. At night, the boy said Wilson got mad at his mom for no reason, which scared him.

Robinson told a social worker that she'd intended to drop Wilson off somewhere, but that she'd gotten lost and lost her phone.

Wilson has a long criminal record dating back to 1999. He's been convicted of felony assaults, an assault on a police officer, DWIs, and receiving stolen property, among others.

Robinson and Wilson are both being held in Dakota County Jail. They both made their first appearances on Thursday. Robinson is being held on $75,000 bail and Wilson is being held without bail related to the earlier charge of threatening a police officer.