Parents facing neglect charges after taking their infant to bar

Holly V. Hays | The Indianapolis Star

INDIANAPOLIS — The parents of a 7-month-old girl have been charged with neglect after police say they took the infant to a bar, where the mother allegedly breastfed her daughter while drinking beer.

Shari Treba, 42, and Michael Trosclair, 45, both face charges of neglect of a dependent and public intoxication after police found them intoxicated at a Indianapolis bar with their daughter, according to court documents detailing the incident.

Officers were called to the Wild Beaver Saloon just before 1 a.m. Saturday, court documents show, after callers reported an intoxicated woman with a baby there.

Officers found Treba standing outside a roped-off area of the bar next to a stroller, drinking beer. She told officers the baby was hers before taking another drink, documents say.

Witnesses told police she had been offering sex to people who would go inside and get her beer, according to court documents. They also said she had been seen drinking while breastfeeding the child and alleged she had left the baby unattended to go inside the bar and buy more beer.

Treba, who police say never denied breastfeeding the child at the bar, tested a .193 percent blood alcohol content, according to court documents.

Soon after, Trosclair approached Treba and the officers, explaining that he was planning on calling an Uber driver to return to the hotel, documents say. Officers noted Trosclair appeared to be stumbling and smelled of alcohol.

Trosclair grew agitated, and officers placed him in handcuffs to avoid a possible fight, according to the documents.

Officers said Trosclair repeatedly asked to call a lawyer and couldn't understand why the baby would be in danger with a mother who had consumed multiple drinks, documents say.

"Partying was more important than their child," an IMPD detective wrote in a probable cause affidavit.

The baby was taken into Department of Child Services custody and was checked at Riley Hospital for Children at IU Health, but showed no signs of intoxication, according to court documents. No other signs of neglect were noted.

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