Parents of 4-year-old girl left behind in gas station bathroom arrested

Update: The father of the four-year-old girl who was left in a gas station bathroom in Joshua Tree Tuesday night was arrested Wednesday after authorities began searching for him in connection to a felony child endangerment charge.

Robbie Pederson, a 36-year-old Joshua Tree resident, is now in custody at the Morongo Basin Jail with his wife, 27-year-old Nichole Pederson. Robbie was also arrested for two misdemeanor warrants in addition to the felony charge.

The San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department caught up to him at about 2:30 p.m. after receiving a call that he was possibly at a home in the 400 block of Cady Road, according to the release.

Investigation began Tuesday night after girl was found in Valero gas station bathroom:

The parents of a four-year-old girl left their daughter behind after leaving a Valero gas station in Joshua Tree Tuesday night, and deputies said her mother didn’t call the gas station to ask about her child until about five hours after the fact.

The gas station is located at 61794 Twentynine Palms Highway.

The family, at least three adults and several other young children, was seen on surveillance video at about 5:30 p.m. They apparently packed into their pickup truck and left the store, but forgot about their four-year-old daughter who was still in the restroom at the time.

The San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department was called to the gas station at 7:30 p.m. when the young girl was finally discovered, according to the sheriff’s release. Deputies had trouble identifying her parents because the child could only give their first names.

Deputies said 27-year-old Nichole Pederson of Joshua Tree called the gas station at about 10:30 p.m. to ask about her daughter. A deputy found her, but she didn’t take him to her other five children, so he began looking for them to check on their welfare.

Deputies received information about the location of Pederson’s other children at 4:30 a.m. Wednesday, and Children Family Services (CFS) took them into protective custody.

Through the investigation, authorities learned the father of the 4-year-old girl, 36-year-old Robbie Pederson, was also at the gas station during the incident. He wasn’t with the other five children when deputies found them.

Nichole Pederson was arrested for felony child endangerment and was booked into the Morongo Basin Jail on $100,000 bail.

Deputies couldn’t find her husband, Robbie. They issued an arrest warrant and the district attorney’s office was pursuing him on the same charge as his wife, deputies said in the release.

Robbie was arrested Wednesday at about 2:30 p.m. after deputies received a tip about his location.