Mika’el Malik Abdul Muha Palmer, 27, Minot, is accused of of slapping a 7-year-old girl in the face on the evening of July 28 after she hid his car keys to keep him from driving to the store because he had been drinking. According to a probable cause affidavit filed with the court, the children in the house called someone to pick them up. The girl ran out to the vehicle, screaming and crying, and Palmer allegedly came outside and tried to physically pull her out of the vehicle.

Palmer allegedly then drove to the residence on the morning of July 29 to pick up the child and had a 7-year-old boy in the vehicle with him. The boy went in the house and the resident of the house called the police to report the incidents. Palmer told police that he had stopped drinking around midnight the previous night and usually drinks a pint of alcohol each night. Palmer was placed under arrest.

Palmer is charged in district court in Minot with Class C felony child abuse and Class A misdemeanor intoxicated while in actual physical control of a motor vehicle while accompanied by a minor child. He was scheduled to make an initial appearance on the charges on Monday before Judge Todd Cresap.