Bail was reduced Monday for a Daly City, Calif., man charged with felony child neglect after he reportedly left five children - ages 10 to 18 - in line all night to buy concert tickets while he gambled in Reno.
Michael Peter O'Neill, 44, whose occupation is listed as "ticket scalper" in court documents, reportedly left two children at Scolari's on Highway 50 East, one child at Raley's on South Carson Street and two children at a Reno store.
He is being held at the Carson City Jail in lieu of $25,000 bail, reduced from $40,000.
Deputies discovered the children when a worker at Scolari's reported two of them sleeping at 2:45 a.m. inside the east door. The children told police that they came from Daly City, Calif., and were waiting for the ticket office to open so they could buy tickets to the March 2 Backstreet Boys concert in Oakland.
The deputies were led to another boy who was waiting outside Raley's on a stool.
Together, the children were carrying $7,275, according to court documents.
When O'Neill arrived at Scolari's at 6:30 a.m., deputies took him into custody. He reportedly admitted using the children to buy the tickets for scalping purposes. The children were put under the supervision of the Division of Child and Family Services. According to BASS tickets, the concert quickly sold out.
, but tickets ranged in price from $40 to $60. The maximum number of tickets that can be bought by an individual is eight. At an average price of $50, 145 tickets could have been purchased with the amount of money found in the children's possession.
