By JAMES MITCHELL
Sunday Times Newspapers
TAYLOR – A man accused of domestic violence after a police situation last year sent officers in search of a reported missing child was found guilty by a jury last month.
Toddy Ray Poupard, 42, was found guilty of second-degree domestic violence Feb. 27 by a 23rd District Court jury. According to county court records, allegations of child neglect stemming from the same incident remained under review.
City police responded last April to reports of a missing child, Poupard’s 8-year-old daughter, who had last been seen sleeping in a pickup truck outside of Comfort Inn, 6778 S. Telegraph. Police Chief Mary Sclabassi said the Poupards had either left or been evicted from their Dearborn Heights home and had driven to the hotel in separate vehicles.
The couple rode in the truck while their 16-year-old daughter drove a Ford Escape, in which a 10-year-old boy was a passenger. The missing had been left behind and was found sleeping that morning by police.
During the search for the girl, police took Poupard in for questioning, and Sclabassi said that further investigation resulted in charges of second-degree domestic violence.
Poupard was scheduled to be sentenced March 30 before 23rd District Court Judge Geno Salomone.
(James Mitchell can be reached at [email protected].)