SEDGWICK COUNTY —A Kansas felon arrested after his 11-month-old daughter was found in the canal in Wichita earlier this week made his first court appearance in the case Friday.
Vincent Perez , 34, is charged with three counts of aggravated endangering a child and two counts of aggravated battery, according to the Sedgwick County District Attorney's office.
Just after 1p.m. Tueday, police were dispatched to conduct a welfare check in the vicinity of Interstate 135 and Pawnee in Wichita after receiving a report of a child in the canal, according to Officer Kristopher Gupilan.
Officers, with the assistance of the Wichita Fire Department, located the child within the canal. She was safely extracted from the canal and transported to a local hospital for precautionary medical evaluation and later placed into police protective custody, according to Gupilan.
The investigation into the circumstances surrounding how the child ended up in the canal continues.
Police believed Perez had information pertinent to the investigation. On Tuesday night, police asked the public for assistance in locating him for questioning. Just after 11a.m. Wednesday, police booked Perez into the Sedgwick County jail. He remains jailed on a $150,000 bond. His next court appearance is August 5, according to the district attorney's office.
Perez has previous convictions for theft, aggravated assault, aggravated burglary, criminal possession of a weapon and for drugs, according to the Kansas Department of Corrections.