COBB COUNTY, Ga. — Police arrested a father after his 4-year old daughter wandered from home and was nearly hit by a car.
Officers believe he was drunk and high on drugs.
The driver found the child in the middle of Live Oak Drive in Kennesaw last Tuesday.
The woman told Channel 2's Chris Jose the little girl was all by herself wearing just a diaper when she found her.
“No shoes, no clothes. Nothing. I stopped the car immediately where I was at. Opened my door and she came running to my car,” driver Nicole Alford said.
Police believe the child was left unsupervised for more than three hours.
“It’s bad parenting, and if you’re a selfish person, then don’t bring another human being into this world. Be selfish by yourself,” Alford said.
She took the little girl and knocked on the front door of the child’ home, but nobody answered so she called 911.
“She had bruises, little burn marks on her, scratches. Her hair was matted. She was not cared for at all,” Alford said.
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When officers arrived at the scene, the child’s father, Norman Stepho, answered the door. Police said he appeared to be under the influence of drugs and alcohol.
Stepho told police he had taken pain medication for his mouth and his friend, James Stubbs, was supposed to be watching the child. Police say they found Stubbs passed out in a bathroom.
Inside the home, police say they found open beer bottles, needles, pipes and bongs with marijuana residue.
On Monday, Jose went to Stepho’s home and talked with him through the window.
Stepho said his friend wasn’t high, despite what police said. He said he doesn’t know how his child got out.
“She’s a sneaky little kid,” he said. “I was in the bed laying down man and my friend was laying down on the couch watching the kids, and he went to take a poop, and she got out somehow.”
Stepho’s wife told Jose she was at the grocery store for 90 minutes and left her husband and Stubbs to watch the kids.
Norman Stepho and Stubbs are charged with reckless conduct. Under his bond condition, Stepho is not allowed to have contact with his children.