Man booked on six charges after passing children across 6th floor gap

Police in Evansville, Indiana, are investigating a high-rise apartment incident that involved a physical altercation and the movement of two children across an open gap.

Rafael Evans faces six charges including domestic battery, theft of a firearm, and neglect of a dependent. The case stems from a 911 call placed Saturday morning just before 9:45 a.m.

Dispatchers received a hang-up call from a woman in the 300 block of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. She reported a physical fight with Evans. The woman stated that Evans hit her in the head while their two children were present. She also told officers that Evans took her handgun without permission, a move she said she never approved because he was a convicted felon.

As officers gathered to locate Evans, one officer saw him pass the children across a gap between his balcony and a neighboring unit. The affidavit notes the apartments were six stories above ground with no safety net below. Evans moved between the balconies and entered the neighboring apartment. He later emerged holding one child and was taken into custody without incident. The other child had already exited the unit.

Officers searched the neighboring apartment with the resident’s permission and found the handgun. Both residents told police they did not own a firearm and did not know how it arrived in their home.

Evans told police the argument was verbal and that the woman was the aggressor. He denied taking the gun and acknowledged he could not possess firearms. He was booked into the Vanderburgh County Jail on Saturday.

The six charges filed against Evans include domestic battery in the presence of a child, domestic battery with a prior unrelated conviction, theft of a firearm, possession of a firearm by a serious felon, possession of a firearm by domestic battery, and neglect of a dependent.