Breezewood man accused of child endangerment
Six-year-old boy drowns after Brennan allegedly left 2 kids swimming alone
Trending
A Breezewood man is behind bars after allegedly leaving two young children swimming alone in a pond, leading to one of them drowning.
Waylon Cole Brennan, 27, was arraigned Tuesday by Magisterial District Judge Wendy R. Mellott on two felony counts of endangering the welfare of children and two misdemeanor counts of recklessly endangering another person. He was remanded to the Bedford County Correctional Facility in lieu of $25,000 bail.
State police at Bedford were dispatched to the Breezewood Proving Grounds about 3 p.m. on Aug. 3 for a report of a missing 6-year-old boy. On scene, they assisted the boy's guardian, Brennan, with locating the victim. Officers then learned the victim was last seen swimming in a pond about 12- to 14-feet deep with his 5-year-old brother. When the pond was searched, the victim was found dead at the bottom, according to the affidavit of probable cause.
Witnesses told officers they heard Brennan say he was at his truck for about 20 minutes before Brennan reduced that time to 10 minutes, then just a minute or two. The witnesses said they saw Brennan with his phone while at his vehicle. Witnesses also told officers that during the search, the second child was left unattended in the pond and was eventually removed by an individual who saw him alone in the water, the police report states.
In an interview at the state police barracks, Brennan said the victim and his brother were not his biological children, but he was raising them. They were at the Proving Grounds to watch a race when the boys saw the slides in the pond and wanted to go swimming. Brennan said the boys were swimming for about an hour and a half when the victim said he was thirsty, so Brennan went to his vehicle to get water and text the boys' mother. When Brennan returned, he couldn't find the victim, the report states.
Brennan said the boys could swim "for the most part" and didn't have any floaties while in the pond. He told officers the pond was visible from his truck, where he was for only a minute or two.
Brennan also said he was 100% sober and the last time he had smoked marijuana was a few days prior. He then agreed to submit to a voluntary blood draw, the report states.
The victim's mother was also interviewed and told officers she was not at the Proving Grounds because Brennan had the boys for the weekend. She said the boys couldn't really swim, didn't have a pool and the victim was learning how to doggy paddle. The last text message she said she received from Brennan was at 2:26 p.m., followed by a phone call about 2:49 p.m. saying the victim was missing, the report states.
Lab results from Brennan's voluntary blood draw came back positive for marijuana use, according to the affidavit.
Brennan is scheduled for a preliminary hearing in front of Mellott on Sept. 10.