2 women charged after 4 children found alone in Portage hotel room
Portage police arrested two East Chicago women on felony child neglect charges early Thursday after they allegedly left their young children alone in a hotel room while they left to smoke and go to a Gary gas station.
Portage police were called at 2:15 a.m. Thursday to Travel Inn, 6101 U.S. 20, by the desk clerk after three children, all estimated to be under age 5, said they couldn’t find their mom and didn’t know what room she was in, according to a report.
The clerk told police the children said their mother was not in the hotel room “and they were scared so they left the room to seek help,” according to a report.
Police said one child was dressed only in a diaper without pants. They talked to the oldest girl who said their mom left her in a hotel room and she didn’t know where she went, and there was also a baby still in the room, the report said.
The girl was not able to provide “any further useful information” and did not know how to direct police to her room, police said. Police said they spent about 45 minutes locating the room with the baby, found asleep face-down on one of the beds.
Police took the four children to the police department to wait for Child Protective Services. Around 3:50 a.m., two women approached an officer still in the hotel parking lot and said their children were missing from one of the hotel rooms.
Lisandra Thompson, 23, and Erica Gage, 21, both told police that they had arranged for a woman, identified by Thompson as her sister and by Gage as a friend of Thompson’s named Neesha, to watch their children at the hotel. Thompson said left the four children sleeping at the hotel, while Gage said Neesha was in the room with the children, when the pair went to the parking lot to smoke, then went to a Gary gas station.
Thompson said they went there to get snacks for the children and both said Thompson’s boyfriend was there and they spent some time with him before returning to the hotel.
Police reportedly questioned inconsistencies in the women’s stories and they admitted they made up the story about Neesha watching the children. Additionally, Gage reportedly gave police a fake name.
“Ms. Thompson eluded to the fact that the sole purpose of renting the room was to have somewhere to put the children,” police said.
Thompson faces two felony counts of neglect of a dependent and a misdemeanor charge of false informing. Gage is charged with two felony counts of neglect of a dependent, a felony count of identity deception, and a misdemeanor charge of false informing.
Police transported the women to Porter County Jail and the children were released to individuals approved by Child Protective Services.