One year ago, Congress defunded public media. Now that we're 100% community funded, please become a sustaining member or increase your existing membership today.
This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.
This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.
Eagle Rock Girl Lived In Home That Reeked Of Poop, Dad Accused Of Selling Fake Drugs
Mexican candy at an L.A. gas station (Photo by via the Creative Commons on Flickr)
An Eagle Rock man and his girlfriend face child abuse charges after keeping their 11-year-old daughter in filthy living conditions in a home where they sold Mexican candy as heroin.Thomas Casillas, 38, and Vanessa Hidalgo, 36, were arrested March 18 from their home on the 4700 block of Eagle Rock Boulevard after police found ammunition, drug paraphernalia including methamphetamine pipes and what they believed to be heroin, Glendale News-Press reports. It turns out those rocks were Mexican candy, Casillas told officers.
It’s no wonder that Casillas had apparently been receiving text messages that said his stuff was “weak.”
The couple’s 11-year-old daughter was taken into protective custody, given the living conditions. Glendale police spokeswoman Tahnee Lightfoot said the house was in “complete disarray and smelled of urine and feces and rotting food.”
Casillas has been convicted before of possessing drugs for sale and carrying a loaded firearm, court records revealed. Hidalgo was convicted of child abuse in 2001 and was on probation for her role in a 2008 gang-related shooting, detectives said.
The couple pleaded not guilty to the charges from last week’s arrest. They’re scheduled for a preliminary hearing April 2.
Parents Arrested For Child Endangerment After Girl, 11, Found Living In Filthy Conditions: http://t.co/iItM4TnZ93 pic.twitter.com/gxxVjuAj2R
— CBS Los Angeles (@CBSLA) March 27, 2014
One year ago, Congress voted to defund public media, eliminating a critical $1.7 million from our budget every year going forward. But they couldn’t silence us, and we’re not going anywhere. LAist is now 100% community funded and that means we’re taking our future into our own hands and turning to you to keep local reporting strong.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
Senior Vice President News, Editor in Chief
