Police: Man, Woman Leave Kids in Car to Gamble

A man and woman from Dell Rapids were jailed early Tuesday for allegedly leaving three children in a car while they gambled.

Police say it happened at Deuces Casino on North West Avenue in Sioux Falls.

Police spokesman Sam Clemens says when officers arrived around 1am, a seven-year-old girl and an eight-month-old girl were sleeping in the vehicle. and a five-year-old girl was screaming.

He says the parents claimed to have been in the casino just a short time, but he says the person who called police said they had been there longer.

Clemens says 26-year-old Betsy Rae Hansen and 29-year-old Nathan Dale Ostermeier were both charged with three counts of abuse or neglect of a minor, and Ostermeier was also charged with possession of a controlled substance for some drugs in his pocket.

The children were taken into protective custody.

Clemens says police believe Hansen and Ostermeier had both been using drugs.