Man abandons baby at strip club

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (WSVN) -- Police said a Florida father was looking for a bottle for himself, and in the process earned himself the title of bad dad.

Police in Daytona Beach arrested the man who, they said, abandoned his baby at, of all places, a strip club.

He was identified as Kenneth Rowe Jr., Daytona Beach's Police Chief said he was drunk when he showed up at this strip club and liquor store. "You've got a two-and-a-half-month-old out on a freezing cold night," said Chief Mike Chitwood, "and you just take this baby out at 11:30 at night because you want to go to a dancing bar?"

Rowe reportedly left the child with an employee, telling her he wanted to go outside and smoke. When he did not return after 15 minutes, police were called.

While waiting for police, the owner and his employees took matters into their own hands, chasing Rowe down and bringing him back to the store. "He asked her if she could hold the baby for a few minutes, and then we had to go and chase him down to get him to come back into the store to pick up his child. He's severely intoxicated."

They returned the child to the 26-year-old and he tried to run away before police arrived. He was caught hiding in the bushes when the baby started crying.

Investigators said Rowe and his wife are transients from Illinois and have been staying in a local motel. Rowe has been charged with child neglect. The baby has been returned to his mother.

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