Father rescues 3 kids, then arrested on drug, weapons charges

HIGH RIDGE, Mo. (AP) — Chuck Talley raced through his burning home to save his three kids. Moments later, he was in jail.

Talley, 24, was arrested Wednesday for possession of a weapon and drug paraphernalia, shortly after his home nearly burned to the ground. He was jailed briefly before being released.

“Isn’t that great?” Talley’s wife, Jessica Talley, asked. “Our house burns down and they take him to jail.”

Jessica Talley said the weapon was a sawed-off shotgun that belonged to her father.

She woke up about 5 a.m. Wednesday, hearing fire in the attic of the home in Jefferson County, south of St. Louis. Her husband was sleeping in the living room with their 2-month-old son.

Chuck Talley handed Jessica the baby and told her to get out. He turned back to rescue daughters Mya, 5, and Paris, 2. Just as he rushed out of the house with his daughters under his arms, the roof over their bedroom collapsed, Jessica Talley said.

“I saw that my toys were all burned up and I yelled, ’Daddy, you gotta come in my room and get me outta here,”’ Mya told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Fire officials ruled the blaze accidental. The home was a complete loss.

Dale Mowery, a union carpenter, said he and other neighbors plan to help rebuild the home.

“They’re still good people, and they deserve all the help they can get,” Dale Mowery said. “I still can’t believe he went back into that burning building, but when it’s your kids, you do what you have to do.”

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Information from: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, www.stltoday.com.

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