Dad leaves young children home alone to go out drinking

A Milwaukee man left his young daughters alone at home while he went out drinking early Sunday morning. Before he could make it home, he was pulled over for drunken driving in Wauwatosa.

According to a Wauwatosa Police Department report:

The 36-year-old father was watching his daughters - a 4-year-old and a 10-month-old - while his wife worked the late shift at a local hospital. He had been drinking at home and after the children fell asleep, he headed out to bars on State Street.

At 2:20 a.m., an officer saw the man drive through a flashing red light on 68th Street. He had a blood-alcohol level of 0.22. When questioned, he thought he had been gone about 20 minutes, but it was actually nearly two hours.

Milwaukee police were dispatched to the home, where they found the door unlocked and the kids asleep in the same bed.

The mother came home and told police that while she knew her husband had an alcohol problem, she never thought he would leave their girls.

The father was referred to the Milwaukee County district attorney.