An 18-year-old man has been arrested for allegedly abandoning his 16-day-old baby in the parking lot of a California strip mall.
Surveillance video from the mall shows the man driving into the lot in Suisun City Monday afternoon before pulling to a stop in front of a barbershop. Police said Daniel Mitchell then took a baby carrier from the back seat and placed it in the lot, in the direct sun, before pulling away.
Erick Keaton and co-worker Wendell Cooper said they spotted the carrier from the barbershop, but didn't realize what was inside.
“We’re just shocked, I mean it’s a newborn baby,” Cooper said in an interview with CNN, “plus the way people pull into the smoke shop (next door) he could have been hit by anybody’s car.”
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Witness describe the baby as alert but not crying and wrapped in blankets but wearing no clothing.
Police said Mitchell was later involved in a hit-and-run crash in another city, where officers found him. He has been arrested on probable charge for child endangerment and abandonment as well as committing a felony while on bail. He is also facing misdemeanor charges of possession of suspected cocaine.
The baby was flown to a local medical center for treatment of an unspecified condition, according to news reports.
The baby’s mother, who is married to Mitchell, is not a suspect, police said.