Dad denies playing ninja when son, 4, alone

SCOTTDALE, Pa. (AP) — A western Pennsylvania man denies he was outside running around pretending to be a ninja, but acknowledges he did leave his 4-year-old son home alone sleeping while he went jogging earlier this month.

Twenty-eight-year-old Ross Hurst remains in the Westmoreland County Prison after his preliminary hearing on a child endangerment charge was postponed Wednesday. Outside the courtroom, Hurst was telling reporters that he wasn’t dressed as a ninja or pretending to be one when Scottdale police charged him March 3 about 1:30 a.m.

Hurst says he simply “went for a jog” — but acknowledges he shouldn’t have left his sleeping son home alone.

But police insist Hurst was dressed all in black and “playing ninja” when they confronted him on a borough street. They say Hurst claimed his mother was babysitting, but she told police she wasn’t.