Deal might be made in case of child in car

Erica D. Johnson

Friday, Aug. 8, 2003 | 11:27 a.m.

One of the first Las Vegas parents to face a child endangerment charge for leaving his 2-year-old son in the car alone while he ran into a local Starbucks is considering negotiating his case with prosecutors.

Won Chong was scheduled to have his preliminary hearing before Justice of the Peace Tony Abbatangelo this morning.

But the hearing was postponed after prosecutor Craig Hendricks and defense attorney David Amesbury announced that Chong could reach a deal with prosecutors as soon as Oct. 8, when Chong returns to court for a status check.

Both attorneys declined to comment on the details of the possible negotiations.

Hendricks said he plans to discuss the case with District Attorney David Roger and Chief Deputy District Attorney Doug Herndon, who heads the Special Victim's unit, before reaching an agreement.

"David Roger has great concern with what is happening in the community" regarding children left in cars, he said. "We hope to come to a fair and equitable resolution."

Amesbury said he also hopes to reach a deal with prosecutors before the scheduled October status check.

"We hope to reach an agreement," he said. He also noted that "the notoriety of the case makes it difficult."

Chong faces a single count of child endangerment, a gross misdemeanor, for leaving his sleeping son in the car while he went into a Starbucks on Durango Drive. The car was running and the doors were unlocked, police said. The child was not injured.

Chong told police that the child had been up all night crying and he left the child in the car because he didn't want to wake him up, police said.

Chong was the first parent scheduled to have a preliminary hearing after leaving his child in a car.

Prosecutors have levied child abuse and neglect charges against at least four other parents who have left their children alone in cars within the past few months. None of those children was seriously injured.

Prosecutors did not file child neglect charges against David Fish and Latasha Raynor, whose children died after being left alone for hours in hot cars.

Prosecutors said those parents couldn't be charged because they did not intentionally leave their children in cars.

Hendricks said the specific negotiations of each case "will differ depending on the circumstances of each individual case."

Abbatangelo also ordered that the $3,000 bail Chong posted be returned to him. Prosecutors did not object, saying Chong was not a flight risk.