PD: Father left 3-year-old daughter alone overnight in Mesa apartment

MESA, AZ - A Mesa man was arrested after he allegedly left his 3-year-old daughter alone and unattended overnight in their apartment.

Sunday morning, a neighbor in the central Mesa apartment complex noticed the child wandering around the courtyard alone and notified police, according to court documents.

The child said she did not know where her father was and she was unable to tell authorities her father's name.

Police examined the apartment and found it in disarray. According to police, clothing was strewn on the floor, dirty dishes were stacked in the kitchen and knives were left out in the open making them easily accessible to the child.

Sunday morning, about 12 hours after he left his daughter alone, Gabriel Vincent Nava returned home. Police said he smelled of alcohol and he admitted to drinking six beers the night before.  

Nava said he had hired a babysitter to watch his daughter while he was gone, but police contacted the babysitter who denied Nava ever contacted her. According to police, the babysitter's story was confirmed by people she was with the previous evening.

Nava was booked into jail on one count of child abuse.