Docs: Muncie man arrested after non-verbal, autistic daughter found walking in roadway alone

MUNCIE, Ind. — A Muncie man is facing a felony count of child neglect after police say his non-verbal, autistic juvenile daughter was found walking in a roadway and near a gas station by herself.

According to court documents, 46-year-old Jason Ziarko was arrested Wednesday night and preliminarily charged with Neglect of a Dependent, which is a Level 6 Felony.

The investigation began when officers with the Muncie Police Department were called to a Marathon Gas Station located at 3300 E. Jackson Street. When officers arrived, they recalled observing a 15-year-old girl who appeared to be dumping food on the ground and eating it.

Around this same time, dispatch confirmed that it had received numerous calls regarding this same juvenile, with some callers saying she had reportedly been running in and out of traffic and sitting in the middle of the road.

Officers approached the girl as she was sitting on the ground near the gas station’s entrance. One of the officers noted in the probable cause affidavit that the juvenile appeared to be “some type of non-verbal autistic.”

A short time later, Ziarko arrived and confirmed that the girl was his daughter. He explained that he was on his way home from work and advised that he had instructed his other daughter to watch over the girl while he was gone, according to court documents.

The officers indicated that they would follow Ziarko back to his residence in the 300 block of N. Claypool Road since his juvenile daughter was loose in the roadway.

Upon arrival, the officers quickly noticed the “neglect of the lawn care” outside of the residence. Several dirty dishes were also seen stacked “halfway up a window which was visible from the roadway,” court documents said.

As police made their way into the home, they described being confronted by odors of “general filth and dirt.” Court documents show that canned food was reportedly scattered all over the floor between the kitchen and the living room.

The officers proceeded to call a representative for the Indiana Department of Child Services, who also walked through the home. The DCS worker concluded that the home’s conditions were “unacceptable” for the juveniles to be living in.

During a second walk-through of the home, police reportedly found that the beds in the juveniles’ rooms had no sheets and described the mattresses as “dirty.” The authorities also detected what they believed to be black mold on the ceiling inside the bathroom.

The DCS worker managed to find an alternative location for the juveniles to stay as officers placed Ziarko under arrest, court documents said.