A MAN accused of leaving his 6-month-old daughter in the cold outside his Los Angeles home at 2 a.m. on Christmas Day and then passing out drunk has been charged with child endangerment, prosecutors said Monday.

    Jose Chavarria, 29, was also charged with resisting arrest after struggling with police who found him asleep on a couch inside the home, Los Angeles City Attorney’s spokesman Frank Mateljan said in a written statement.

    Mateljan said neighbors called police after hearing the baby crying shortly after 2 a.m. on Christmas Day, when temperatures had dipped below 10 degrees Celsius.

    Chavarria, who was being held in lieu of US$100,000 bail, faces up to two years in jail and US$2,000 in fines if he is convicted.

    His infant daughter has since been placed in the custody of the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services.

    (SD-Agencies)