A Ville Platte man was arrested on Monday after an unattended child was rescued from a house fire.
The State Fire Marshal’s Office says 30-year-old Kriger Jones was arrested Monday on one count of Child Desertion after a house fire was reported in Ville Platte.
Investigators say that firefighters were responding to a report of a house fire in the 1200 block of Fruge Street in Ville Platte when they learned that a child had been rescued from the home by a neighbor. The neighbor told firefighters they were able to rescue the child after spotting the smoke and hearing the child crying inside the home.
According to investigators, the fire started around the stove in the home’s kitchen.
Jones, who is the child’s father, allegedly told investigators that he left the child unattended to walk two blocks away. Jones also told investigators that a pot of grease was on the stove but that the stove had been turned off. The child’s mother was away at work at the time of the incident.
Jones was arrested and booked into the Evangeline Parish Jail.
