Near Drowning Leads To Jail Time

A 25-year-old man remained in jail today pending arraignment on felony child endangerment charges stemming from the near-drowning of a toddler in his care.

While there is no assumption of guilt, the incident serves as a reminder for all.

Pedro Rangel of Palm Desert was supervising three children between the ages of two and six at an apartment complex in the 44800 block of Las Palmas Avenue on Saturday, said Palm Desert police Sgt. Radek Horkel.

Police officers and paramedics went to the complex at 5:26 p.m. in response to a report of a child drowning, Horkel said.

Rangel was playing with the two oldest children in the water while the 2- year-old sat outside of the pool on the concrete edge, the sergeant said.

"The 2-year-old fell into the water and no one noticed," Horkel said. "Several minutes later, neighbors saw the 2-year-old child unresponsive in the pool water."

Neighbors got into the pool area and revived the child with CPR, Horkel said. She was transported to a hospital for observation.

Rangel was intoxicated during the incident and, as a result, failed to notice that the child fell into the pool, Horkel said.

He was arrested on suspicion of felony child endangerment and booked into the Riverside County Jail in Indio, where he remained in lieu of $35,000 bail, according to the sheriff's inmate information website. He's scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday. --City News Service