Man, woman charged after five kids left home alone in Beaver County

AMBRIDGE. Pa. — Ambridge police officers described a home in Crestview Village as deplorable. According to court paperwork, there was dirt, food and feces covering not just the floors, but the kids inside.

“It’s just awful, I couldn’t imagine. Thank god they got here,” said Rachel Frazier who lives across the street.

Officers said they got the call for a domestic situation around 2:30 a.m. on Tuesday. The call came from Shannon Lee Hartman, who wanted to press charges against Warren Jackson, but when police got there, no one was home but the kids.

“There was a police presence on and off for a while. At first, there were three police and then four. Then they left and came back so we weren’t sure what was going on,” Frazier said.

Those officers went inside and said they found a one-year-old crawling at the top of the steps alone in danger of falling. When they searched the rest of the house, there were four more kids alone ranging in ages two to seven.

“Oh, that’s just scary, I just couldn’t imagine. I have little ones and I just know it’s tough, but they didn’t choose to be here. We choose to have them so it’s our responsibility to make sure they are cared for and looked after,” Frazier said.

Now both Hartman and Jackson are each facing five counts of endangering the welfare of a child and recklessly endangering another person.

“I just don’t understand it. I don’t know what crosses minds,” Frazier said.

It took almost four hours before police finally located the pair back in the apartment parking lot.

As for the kids, one was taken by another family member and the other four are with Children and Youth Services.

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