Lakeville Police Seek Woman Charged with Child Neglect, Endangerment

An arrest warrant has been issued for a Red Wing woman accused of child neglect and endangerment after her 2-year-old daughter was found in a Lakeville hotel room last weekend with her mother apparently drunk on the bed.

Amber Elaine Czerwinski, 28, is charged with two gross misdemeanors: child neglect and child endangerment, each of which carries a maximum penalty of a year in jail and a $3,000 fine.

According to the criminal complaint, were called to a hotel just after 6:30 p.m. March 31 after a desk clerk reported that a male guest was in the reception area, screaming and bleeding from a cut on his head and “acting very strangely.”

The clerk said the man showed up in the lobby screaming, complaining that someone was following him, and jumped over the front desk counter.

When police arrived, they found the man behind the counter, rolling around on the floor and still bleeding from his forehead. Police say the man smelled strongly of alcohol, had slurred speech and appeared extremely agitated.

Police asked what had happened to his forehead, but the man repeatedly replied by saying only his first name, the complaint says. When he passed out, he was taken to a hospital.

The clerk showed police a registration card showing that the man had rented a room at the hotel. Police knocked on the door and announced their presence several times. When they got no answer, they used a pass key to get in, and found Czerwinski lying on a bed with her 2-year-old daughter sitting beside her.

The room had a foul odor, including an odor of alcohol, the complaint says. Police saw empty and partially full beer cans strewn around the room, along with cigarettes and cigarette butts, clothing, trash, dirty diapers and uncovered food.

Czerwinski, who also smelled strongly of alcohol, initially didn’t respond to officers’ questions, but eventually told them that she didn’t know what happened to the man who rented the room, and that she had met him only recently, according to the complaint.

Czerwinski’s speech was “extremely slurred,” and officers had to keep her from falling off the bed several times while they were speaking to her, the complaint says.

Police found several pill bottles in the injured man’s name for prescriptions typically used for mental health issues, including paranoia. On the nightstand beside the bed, officers found an empty box of cold medicine pills, with numerous open wrappers on the table and floor.

The complaint says police had to take one of the pill wrappers away from the child, who was chewing on it. She also had Vaseline and ChapStik all over her face and mouth and appeared to have been eating them, according to the complaint.

The child had an extremely wet diaper. When police changed it, they found a severe rash on her legs and pelvic area, the complaint says.

A warm gallon jug of milk was sitting on the floor beside the room’s small refrigerator, and a child’s cup containing “foul-smelling milk” was also in the room. Police also found the remnants of an old bowl of oatmeal, old cheese, partially eaten candy bars and a partially eaten lemon with child-size teeth marks in the peel.

Police found a jug of vodka and a case of beer inside the refrigerator, but found no toys, children’s books or changes of clothing for the child anywhere in the room, according to the complaint.

Czerwinski was taken to detox and her daughter was put into protective custody. Authorities have been unable to locate Czerwinski since her release from detox.