A Buckeye man was arrested after leaving his 5-year-old granddaughter completely by herself in the middle of the desert Sunday Nov 1.

Paul Rater, 62, and 5-year-old granddaughter left for a drive in his pickup in the desert and didn’t come back. The child’s mother reported her missing about four hours after they left and with the help of an off-duty firefighter, found the girl alone and crying with a cocked and loaded semi-automatic gun in her hand.

Shortly after finding the girl, Rater was found at a local store, drinking. He claimed the two ended up on foot after their truck broke down. While looking for help, he left her under a tree, handed her a loaded gun and told her to “shoot any bad guys”. He proceeded to walking and ended up at a local store, ordered four drinks, a burger, complained of his truck breaking down but somehow made no mention of the fact that his granddaughter was still by herself in the desert ten miles away.
He was arrested and booked for two counts of child abuse and two counts of child endangerment.