A Landers man was arrested for investigation into child abuse with great bodily injury after a 1 year-old child was admitted to a hospital for a suspected overdose.
The San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department reports that on Friday (August 23), a 1 year-old child was taken to a hospital for symptoms consistent with an overdose, and later transferred to a trauma center for a higher level of care. The Sheriff’s Department says that they then found the child had additional injuries consistent with non-accidental trauma.
At the time of the hospitalization, the unidentified child was reported to be in the care of Michael Penkowski, a 33 year-old resident of Landers.
Court records indicate that Penkowski was arrested three days later, on Monday, August 26, at the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Central Station in San Bernardino.
Penkowski was arrested on suspicion of child abuse with the possibility of great bodily injury or death, and is currently being held at the West Valley Detention Center on $250,000 bail. He is being arraigned at the Joshua Tree courthouse this morning on a felony charge willfully permitting a child to suffer, with enhancements related to the young age of the child and Penkowski’s prior violent felony convictions.
