MPD: Man arrested for letting teen smoke weed

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A Midland man was arrested Wednesday for knowingly allowing his son and four of his friends to smoke marijuana, according to court documents.

Demetrio Natividad, 63, is being held on a $25,000 bond for a state jail felony charge of abandoning or endangering a child with criminal negligence.

Midland police officers were looking for a runaway child at about 7:46 p.m. Tuesday in the 1400 block of East Parker Avenue.

Their search eventually lead to a residence in the 1300 block of Golf Course Road, where they asked Natividad if he knew the whereabouts of the child. Natividad said his son and several of his son’s friends were in the home and that he didn’t believe the runaway was among them. Natividad said he didn’t want the officers to speak with the children because he believed they were smoking marijuana inside the home.

The officers eventually went inside and talked to the five children, ages 14 to 17. One officer observed a large glass bong in a closet that strongly smelled of marijuana. Natividad said the bong belonged to his son and that he allows his son and his friends to smoke marijuana in the home, according to the arrest affidavit.

The affidavit does not indicate whether the officers found the runaway child.

If convicted, Natividad faces up to two years in prison.