Sands Casino Parking Garage
A Bethlehem man died Friday after jumping from a Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem parking deck, according to a report in the Morning Call. James Bailey, 50, was pronounced dead at 12:20 p.m. The Sands Casino Parking Garage, 777 Sands Boulevard, Bethlehem. Today, on my travels through the Lehigh Valley in search of a good place to photograph my new truck, I passed someplace I pass nearly every day. Find parking costs, opening hours and a parking map of all Sands Casino parking lots, street parking, parking meters and private garages.
Sands Casino Bethlehem Pa Parking Garage
While the region endured single digit wind chills earlier this week, police said two children were struggling to stay warm inside a cold car while their parents gambled.
Officers were dispatched at 3:21 a.m. Monday to the second level of the Sands Casino parking garage in Bethlehem for the report of two children left alone inside a car that had been turned off for several hours, according to court documents released Wednesday.
The outside temperature at the time was approximately 11 degrees, with a wind chill of one degree above zero, police said. “I like to go to the casino, but I wouldn’t leave no kids,” said Carmelo Natoli, the couple’s next door neighbor.
The casino’s surveillance cameras captured video of the children and their parents, identified by police as Enrique and Frances Garcia, arriving at the casino at approximately 12:33 a.m., according to court documents.
Sands Casino Parking Garage
The father came out twice — first at 1:35 a.m. and again at 2:35 a.m. — to check on the children, but he never turned on the car, said police, adding that the children had only jackets to keep them warm inside the blue 2002 Honda Accord.
Enrique Garcia, 49, and Frances Garcia, 45, both of the 1300 block of Muhlenberg Street in Reading, were each charged with endangering the welfare of children, a first-degree misdemeanor.
The casino’s surveillance cameras captured video of the children and their parents, identified by police as Enrique and Frances Garcia, arriving at the casino at approximately 12:33 a.m., according to court documents. The father came out twice — first at 1:35 a.m. and again at 2:35 a.m. — to check on the children, but he never turned on the car, said police, adding that the children had only jackets to keep them warm inside the blue 2002 Honda Accord. E
nrique Garcia, 49, and Frances Garcia, 45, both of the 1300 block of Muhlenberg Street in Reading, were each charged with endangering the welfare of children, a first-degree misdemeanor. Loved ones closed the door and did not want to answer any questions Wednesday.
Dr. Charles Barbera, chairman of the emergency department at Reading Hospital, said no one should be left in a cold car, and the situation can turn troublesome fairly quickly. “If someone is not prepared, they could feel the effects of 11-degree temperatures within a half hour and you could see some really profound effects,” Barbera said. The couple is free on bail. A judge has ordered them not to have any contact with the children or to visit another casino until their case is disposed of.
Police said they did not know the children’s ages. There are no signs posted in the Sands Casino parking garage alerting parents not to leave their kids in the car, but security checks are done regularly, according to casino officials. The casino said it is not sure if security guards or a guest noticed the Garcia children early Monday morning, but once the discovery was made, it alerted Bethlehem police immediately.
A Bethlehem man died Friday after jumping from a Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem parking deck, according to a report in the Morning Call.
James Bailey, 50, was pronounced dead at 12:20 p.m. at St. Luke’s University Hospital in Fountain Hill, according to the Lehigh County Coroner’s Office. His death was ruled a suicide.
The Call, citing Bethlehem Police Chief Mark DiLuzio, reported the man jumped from the Sands Casino Resort’s parking deck. DiLuzio did not immediately confirm that with lehighvalleylive.com and instead deferred to the coroner’s office, which does not disclose the cause of death in suicides.
The death is being investigated by the Bethlehem Police Department and the Lehigh County Coroner’s Office.
Pamela Sroka-Holzmann may be reached at pholzmann@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow her on Twitter @pamholzmann. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.