An Arizona man is facing charges after he admitted to leaving his two 2-year-olds alone for at least five hours while he went gambling.
A neighbor called 911 after they spotted the twins running outside the home with a dog for about 20 minutes with no adults present.
Officers arrived at the scene and searched for the children’s parents for nearly half an hour before the father, identified as 37-year-old Craig Opdycke, showed up in the driveway.
The man initially claimed that he was eating lunch at a Taco Bell. However, he later asked to talk with detectives and confessed to being at a casino for long hours, gambling.
Opdycke revealed that he has a gambling addiction but insisted that he locked the twins in their room and had no idea how they got out of the residence.
Police said that the toddlers’ diapers were soiled and their faces, feet, and clothes were full of dirt.