BATON ROUGE – Deputies say a Baton Rouge man faces drug and child desertion charges after leaving his 3-year-old daughter in a pickup truck to meet with a woman.

According to arrest records, 34-year-old J.W. Wyre was charged with possession of drug paraphernalia and marijuana as well as child desertion.

Around 2:55 a.m. Saturday, deputies were dispatched to a motel on Rieger Road in reference to a 911 call hangup. While patrolling the parking lot, the deputy noticed a Ford Ranger running in the parking lot with a small girl sitting in a car seat inside.

The deputy notes that there was a large puddle of condensation under the engine area, indicating that the truck had been running for a significant amount of time. There was also an opened bottle of Ciroc Peach Liquor sitting on the driver’s seat.

Thirty minutes later, Wyre approached the deputy and claimed that he owned the vehicle. The deputy said there was a strong odor of alcohol coming from Wyre’s breath and he was swaying.

Wyre told investigators that he had come to the motel to see the child’s mother and had only been away from the car for five minutes. Later, Wyre told deputies that he was meeting another woman. He also said he saw the EBRSO deputy near his truck and thought it would not be a problem.

Wyre also said he only had one set of keys and planned on using the truck’s antenna to unlock the vehicle.

After unlocking the truck, deputies observed a strong smell of marijuana inside the car. EBRSO searched the vehicle and found a marijuana grinder and a pill bottle with a “green leafy substance” inside.

Deputies say Wyre later admitted that the grinder and pill bottle were his.

Wyre was booked into the East Baton Rouge Parish Prison on the above charges.