City Tows Illegally Parked Car With Baby Inside Downtown (IL)

[TowNews]

CHICAGO (CBS) — A baby was found safe Thursday inside a locked car that was towed to the impound lot after police said a father parked it illegally downtown.

 

As CBS 2 Political Investigator Dana Kozlov reported exclusively, Chicago Police said the father left the car parked in a tow zone in front of a fire hydrant on Michigan Avenue and Randolph Street, when a city tow truck hooked it up and hauled it away.

 

The baby’s dad now faces misdemeanor charges.

 

“He’s hysterical – parked at the cab zone, ran in the store for a few minutes. He left the infant in the car,” a dispatcher said after the father called 911.

 

The father had left the 5-month-old baby in a car seat in the illegally parked car as he ran into a store. At 11:45 a.m., a city Streets and Sanitation worker hitched the car to a tow truck.

 

Police said the tow truck driver saw the rear-facing car seat in the vehicle, but did not see the infant because of the tint on the vehicle’s windows, police said.

 

The car was towed to the city impound lot.

 

“We’re with the caller, squad. Basically, witnesses said the city tow truck towed a vehicle with his infant in the car, so we’re going to see if we can probably relocate them downstairs to see if it’s in the pound,” an officer said over police radio.

 

Five minutes after that exchange, Chicago Police were indeed able to track down the car, and the baby.

 

“The car is about to be pulled into the lot. The baby is in the car. The baby is crying,” an officer said over radio. “We have no keys to the car, so we’re going to try to open it up right now.”

 

Officers took the frazzled father to the lot, where he was reunited with the baby. The baby was then checked out by waiting paramedics.

 

The father was patted down by officers at the scene and was then allowed into the ambulance with the child, who was taken to a local hospital in good condition.

 

Streets and San supervisors would not answer any questions about the incident, and instead told Kozlov and her crew to leave.

 

The baby’s father did not want to speak with is. Police said he is facing misdemeanor child endangerment charges, and the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services has been notified.

 

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