A Burnsville man left his 4-year-old daughter home alone Thursday night while he went to a bar with a woman, according to charges filed Tuesday in Dakota County District Court.

The girl woke up from a bad dream about 11:20 p.m. and went to a neighbor's house with her blanket, telling the neighbor that "she couldn't find her dad," the charges said.

Richard D. Moore, 47, of the 2700 block of 27th Place, is charged with child neglect, a gross misdemeanor. He was released from the county jail on his own recognizance and must appear in court again Aug. 19.

According to the criminal complaint, Burnsville police were called to the neighbor's home at 12:21 a.m. Friday. They were told that the neighbor woke up to the child's knocks on their door. The girl was in pajamas and said she couldn't find her dad.

Police called the child's mother, who was out of the state on a business trip. She told officers that the girl's father was supposed to be home watching her. She gave police the names of two local bars that she said her husband liked to hang out at and the location of a friend's home. She repeatedly tried to call her husband but got no answer, the complaint said.

Officers got Moore's license plate number and began searching bar parking lots until they found him. The woman he was with said he had picked her up about 10 or 10:30 p.m. Thursday. The woman said she had known Moore for a year and didn't know his daughter had been left home alone.

Police calculated that the girl had been alone at least two hours and possibly up to 3½ hours. The girl was taken in by a relative until her mother could fly home, the complaint said.

Pat Pheifer