Metro

The city man accused of leaving two children unattended in his vehicle to play skill games had all charges against him bound to the court of common pleas following a preliminary hearing in Blair County Central Court on Wednesday.

Kevin Allan Holmes, 43, was taken into custody by Altoona police on May 3 after a witness called 911 to report two children alone in a vehicle without child safety seats at the Puff SuperValue Convenience Store.

Holmes is facing a single felony count of endangering the welfare of children and single misdemeanor counts of endangering the welfare of children and DUI. He was also charged with 11 summary offences, including two counts each of leaving a child unattended in a vehicle and restraint systems – child booster seats.

The witness testified during the hearing that she saw a red car pull into a spot and watched Holmes exit the driver’s seat. She went inside to buy cigarettes and said she saw Holmes on a skills machine. She then talked to the cashier for several minutes before returning to her own vehicle.

The witness said as she was about to enter her vehicle, she looked at the red car and “saw a little boy wave.”

“I thought ‘is this really happening?'” the witness said. “‘Is there really a kid in that car?'”

The witness said she didn’t notice a second child in the car at the time and went back inside the store to alert the cashier. She then called 911 because she was unsure if the cashier would.

Altoona Officer August Stickel said when he arrived on scene, he asked the children where their father was. While Holmes is the father of one of the children, the other is the grandchild of his girlfriend.

After he was mistakenly pointed to a store next to Puff SuperValue, Stickel detained Holmes when he exited the building. Stickel said he told officers “he went into the store for a few minutes to buy cigarettes.”

Officer James Metzgar said they ran Holmes’ name and found he had an active warrant out of Centre County, as well as a suspended driver’s license. When they moved to put him in the back of a police cruiser, Metzgar said they noticed a strong scent of alcohol on Holmes’s breath.

“He advised us he only had one drink,” Metzgar said, adding that the “sheer amount” of stench “was concerning.”

According to lab results, Holmes’ blood alcohol level was 0.042%, which would normally be below the legal limit permissible to drive, Metzgar said, but since Holmes’ license was suspended, that limit dropped to 0.02%.

The rest of Holmes’ lab results, which included marijuana and suboxone, showed “someone under the influence,” Metzgar said.

During closing arguments, Holmes’ attorney Assistant Public Defender Tyler Rowles asked presiding Magisterial District Judge Benjamin F. Jones to dismiss the single felony count of endangering the welfare of children. Rowles said the felony charge was not appropriate and that the summary charges against Holmes were sufficient for the case.

Rowles argued that “no one observed Holmes driving” and there was “no swerving, no going in and out.” He said one of the elements of a felony child endangerment charge was “knowingly putting them in danger.”

“No one said the children were in distress,” Rowles said, adding that it wasn’t a hot day and the children could have been using seat belts.

Assistant District Attorney Mark Bushnell asked Jones to hold all charges for court, saying the witness testified to seeing Holmes drive into the convenience store parking lot, go into the building and start playing skill games.

“If not for a diligent citizen alerting 911, he would have been in there for who knows how long,” Bushnell said.

Bushnell said Holmes walked into a convenience store in an urban area, leaving two children alone, and whether they were “hot or in distress” was “not part of the statute.”

“(Holmes) violated his duty of care,” Bushnell said.

Jones ultimately sent all charges against Holmes to the court of common pleas, saying it would be up to the “find of fact to determine duty of care” in relation to the endangerment charge.

Mirror Staff Writer Rachel Foor is at 814-946-7458.