Fort Worth father indicted on child endangering charge

FORT WORTH A Tarrant County grand jury has indicted a Fort Worth father on a child endangering charge, accusing him of leaving his toddler son alone in the family’s apartment, which caught fire in March.

Firefighters found the 17-month-old boy, who survived, in a back bedroom.

Grand jurors returned the indictment on Friday against Vincent Van Arsdale, 35, of Fort Worth.

Van Arsdale told investigators that he left his son in a bedroom while he drove to his wife’s workplace.

He was free Sunday after posting $9,500 bail shortly after his arrest. He could not be reached for comment.

Firefighters arrived at the Water’s Landing Apartments in the 1000 block of Fringewood Drive about 1:30 a.m. March 10. They looked through windows, but they couldn’t see anything, fire officials said. They forced their way into the apartment and discovered that food left on a stove had started the fire.

Firefighters looked through the apartment and found the toddler, who began crying. No one else was there, fire officials said.

His parents showed up shortly after firefighters arrived.

The toddler was taken to Cook Children’s Medical Center with injuries that were not considered life-threatening.

Officials with Child Protective Services and detectives with the Fort Worth Police Department’s crimes against children unit are investigating the case.

At the time of his arrest in March, Van Arsdale also faced a charge of marijuana possession, but the grand jury had not taken any action on that case, according to Tarrant County criminal court records.

This story was originally published July 19, 2015 at 2:18 PM with the headline "Fort Worth father indicted on child endangering charge."