Modoc County, CA-California couple arrested for locking toddlers in cribs stacked like dog crates

Modoc County, CA-Police have arrested a California couple who allegedly locked their toddlers in cribs that were stacked and secured to the wall like dog crates.

Officers with the Modoc County Sheriff’s Officer made the discovery last Friday while serving a search warrant at the home. Detectives found drugs, guns, and the twin boys locked in cribs that were modified to operate as ‘secured cages.’

"While serving the search warrant deputies located three guns, ammunition, evidence of a butane honey oil lab, meth, and two small boys in separate modified cribs stacked on top of each other and secured to the wall like dog crates," the sheriff's office said in a statement.

Police arrested Ramon Zendejas, 25, and Mercadies Williams, 25, on weapons charges in addition to charges of child endangerment, drug possession and manufacturing a controlled substance.

Dowdy said his office opened the investigation after finding shell casings on the pair's property, which indicated that there may have been firearms on the scene. He said authorities requested the search warrant because the suspects were prohibited from possessing firearms, but they weren't prepared for what they found inside the home.

"It was of shocking to see that people would have their kids in a … well, there's no other way to explain it, it looked much like a crate situation," Modoc County Sheriff Tex Dowdy said late Tuesday. "It's kind of shocking to see anything like that. I couldn't believe the kids were housed like that."

Dowdy said the children seemed healthy and didn't appear to be malnourished. He said they were each turned over to child protective custody.