Wesley Chapel Man Left 1-Year-Old Twins Alone for Hours

A Wesley Chapel man caring for 1-year-old twins put the babies in their cribs then left them alone at the house at noon on Oct. 21, Pasco deputies say.

At about 2:30 p.m, the twins' mother was involved in a hit-and-run car accident in Hillsborough County. She was found about 30 minutes later, passed out behind the wheel of the family car, according to a Pasco County complaint affidavit.

When the woman's parents called the man to tell him, Bradley Andrew Johnson, 28, told them he had left the children home alone, and told them not to tell the authorities. 

"Don't tell the cops the kids are home alone, we're in enough trouble already," Johnson told them, according to the report.

The grandparents immediately went to the home, where they found the twins "crying in their cribs with soiled diapers," the report stated.

The grandparents also discoverd a lit candle burning in the home, according to the report.

The incident occured on Oct. 20.

When questioned during the sheriff's office investigation, Johnson first told deputies he left the children alone only for a few minutes, then said the grandparents were supposed to be watching them, the report stated. Later he admitted that he had left them for about three hours while he went to a Tampa home and "hung out" with a friend.

Johnson, of 6757 Boulder Run Loop in Wesley Chapel, was arrested Dec. 14 and charged with child neglect. He was released from the Land O' Lakes jail on $1,000 bond.