Police: Children left alone around dogs, feces and drugs

Two young boys were left home alone in a Cedar Rapids apartment with four dogs, animal feces and drugs, police said.

The boys' father, Michael P. Shaffer, 27, of Cedar Rapids, has been charged with two counts of child endangerment after he allegedly left the boys, ages 2 and 11 months, unsupervised while he went to a convenience store.

Officers were called around 2:30 p.m. Thursday to the Cedarwood Hills apartment complex at 2050 Glass Rd. NE when a neighbor found one of the boys outside. The tenant saw the 2-year-old boy walk out of the building and wander around the parking lot, police said. He wasn't wearing shoes and his coat was inside out.

It took police about an hour to determine where the boy lived, with help from the apartment managers and a Department of Human Services caseworker. When they went to the apartment, Shaffer answered the door, police said.

Police Sgt. Joe Clark said it was unclear how long the boys were left alone.

“He wasn't very cooperative,” Clark said. “He did admit that he left, but he doesn't appear to be a fan of the police.”

Inside the apartment, police found four dogs and a small amount of marijuana. According to the criminal complaint against Shaffer, the apartment was “littered with animal feces and urine.”

The boys' mother, Casey Costello, 20, was at work at the time, but she was later charged with possession of controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia.

“(Shaffer) claims he doesn't live there, and she claims they're not her drugs,” Clark said. “That will have to be something for the court to straighten out.”

The 11-month-old was still inside the apartment when police arrived. Neither boy was injured.

Clark said apartment managers were surprised to find four dogs inside the apartment, because only two are allowed. He said two of the dogs were seized by animal control, and two were taken to a friend's house.

“At least a couple of the dogs were pit bulls,” Clark said.

Despite the drug charges, Costello was allowed to sign paperwork promising to appear in court and was not taken to jail. Police and the DHS caseworker agreed that leaving the boys in Costello's custody would be a better alternative than placing them somewhere else, Clark said.

“DHS will continue to monitor the kids and follow up,” Clark said. “If more help is needed, or intervention, we'll do whatever we can do to help them.”

Shaffer was taken to the Linn County Jail, where he was being held on $10,000 cash bond. Attempts to reach Shaffer and Costello were not successful.