Lakeville parents charged with theft, child neglect after going missing with their kids

DAKOTA COUNTY, Minn. (KMSP) - Two Lakeville parents have been charged after they went missing with their two children for several days.

According to the Dakota County Attorney’s Office, Zachariah Wilson, 38, and Angela Robinson, 33, were both charged Thursday with one count of theft by temporary control and one count of child neglect in connection with allegations involving the taking of a vehicle not owned by either of them and the neglect of their two young children.

Robinson and the two children, ages 4 and 7, live at Wilson’s mother’s house, and according to the criminal complaint Wilson isn’t allowed at the residence. On Oct. 19, Robinson apparently snuck Wilson into the house because it was cold outside and he didn’t have a place to stay. Robinson’s mother went into her Robinson’s room and discovered Wilson – she reminded him he was not allowed there.

Robinson asked to borrow Wilson’s mother’s car to drive him to a friend’s home, but she never returned with the vehicle.

After five days of being missing, someone making a delivery at a grocery store in Minneapolis saw the vehicle parked by a loading dock. Robinson and Wilson then drove off, and the witness called police. When police tried to stop the vehicle, Robinson drove in an “evasive manner” and made turns to try to get away from police. Once the vehicle was pulled over, Wilson refused to identify himself.

During a search of the vehicle, police found a syringe in the center console of the car, the content was tested and came back inconclusive.

Police say the 7-year-old child told a social worker that the family had been driving around for days and did some “activities” during the day. The child also said he had not bathed or brushed his teeth for five days and on some days, they didn’t have breakfast, lunch or dinner. The child said at night his dad (Wilson) would get “weird and mad” at his mom (Robinson) for no reason and on one occasion the 7-year-old said they stopped to meet up with his dad’s friend who was a “gangster.”

If convicted, both parents face up to 5 years in prison on the theft charge and up to 1 year for the child neglect charge.