Inver Grove Heights boy left alone for hours in van

A 32-year-old Inver Grove Heights man allegedly left his 4-year-old son alone in a minivan parked in a movie theater's fire lane for more than two hours, then could not find his way back to the van, according to court documents.

Police were at the Showplace 16 theater, 5567 Bishop Av., for nearly 45 minutes on Friday, trying to find the father, before they received a report of a man trying to "steal" another minivan. It was the father, who smelled strongly of alcohol and had gotten into a stranger's unlocked minivan, which he had mistaken for his own, according to criminal charges filed Monday.

Dominick D. Miller was charged with child neglect or endangerment, a gross misdemeanor.

According to the complaint:

A patron notified theater workers of seeing the little boy sitting in the driver's seat of the van, yelling out the window for his father. The minivan was parked in the fire lane in front of the theater with its engine running. A theater employee brought the boy inside the theater, but his dad could not be located. An employee called police, who arrived at 8:48 p.m.

The boy told an officer that his dad went to watch a movie a long time ago and told him to stay in the car.

"The 4-year-old advised that his dad's name was 'Dominick.' He did not know his last name or that of his parents. He did not know where he lived or any telephone numbers," the complaint says.

About 9:30 p.m. other patrons reported finding someone inside their van, according to a Showplace 16 manager, and yet another patron reported "someone trying to steal" his friend's van.

At the far south end of the lot, Miller was found standing next to the open driver's door of the van, and when an officer frisked Miller to check for weapons, he found that Miller had urinated in his pants.

"When asked what he was doing," the complaint says, "Miller was insistent that this was his van. Miller, who smelled strongly of alcohol, stated that his wife had dropped him at the theater, and that he had watched a movie with his son."

Miller was being held in the Dakota County jail in lieu of $12,000 bail without conditions, or less if conditions are set.