DEER PARK, Texas — A Deer Park man has surrendered himself to deputies after being charged with child abandonment and endangerment. The charges surfaced after a photo of the suspect on a ‘crotch-rocket style motorcycle with a small child went viral on Facebook over the weekend, investigators said.
The Liberty County Sheriff’s Office and Deer Park Police Department were overwhelmed with calls and complaints about the suspect’s child passenger, but it took a thorough investigation to find the suspect and his child passenger.
It was eventually a phone tip that helped investigators identify Anthony Braddick Welsh, 31, as the motorcyclist.
The suspect was arrested at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday at his home on CR 2224 in relation to an outstanding traffic warrant. However, authorities continued to investigate the motorcycle incident that had residents calling the office in outrage.
Within in the upcoming days, investigators were able to gather enough evidence to file child endangerment charges against Welsh. However, this time, he was nowhere to be found.
The sheriff’s office said numerous calls suggested Welsh had been hiding out at a friends house. The suspect, accompanied by his attorney, surrendered himself to deputies on Thursday at 4:45 p.m.
He was jailed on a $5,000 bond and is expected to be released Thursday evening.
The Deer Park Police Department is continuing to search for witnesses who may have been in the area at the time of the incident.
The sheriff’s office released a statement that read in part:
Under Texas law, no child under five (5) years old shall be a passenger on a motorcycle and any passenger that does ride as a second person on the motorcycle must be seated in a secured seat to the back of the motorcycle with secure hand grips and two foot pegs.
