Parents High on Reefer Arrested After Child Found Wandering the Streets Alone

COLEMAN – Two residents of Coleman were arrested on Monday after the police found their toddler wearing only a diaper wandering around town alone with a dog.

According to the Coleman Police Department, on July 18, 2022, at approximately 2:00 a.m. an officer of the Coleman Police Department was dispatched to Commercial Avenue and 4th Street in reference to a report of a small child walking in the roadway with a dog. The child had nothing on but a diaper and was walking down the middle of Commercial Avenue.

When the officer arrived, he found the child and took him to the Coleman Police Department where they were met by a member of the Coleman Fire Department in an attempt to identify the child. The child was then taken to the Coleman County Medical Center to be medically examined.

An effort was made by officers of the Coleman Police Department and Coleman Fire Department to locate the child’s parents. It was not until approximately 6:00 a.m. when the parents were finally identified and located living several blocks away from where the child was found.

The parents were contacted and during the initial contact, probable cause was developed for a search warrant on the residence.

The Coleman Police Department with assistance from the Coleman County Sheriff’s Office executed a search warrant on the residence located in the 400 block of West 2nd Street.

A quantity of marijuana, along with smoking devices, scales, and packaging material were seized from the residence, all of which were within easy access of the small children living at that residence.

The parents, identified as Jonathon Chase Gibson and Melissa Ann Ortega, both age 27, were arrested for Endangering a Child, Possession of Marijuana, and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. Gibson and Ortega were transported to and placed in the Coleman County Jail.

The child, age 3, found wondering on the street and two siblings, ages 2 and 5 found in the home were taken into custody by the Children’s’ Protective Services.