John Jefferson
Left: An unattended child in Louisiana attempting to climb out the sunroof of a vehicle. Right: Kenner, Louisiana police officers after removing the unattended child from the vehicle (Kenner Police Department).
A mother in Louisiana has been arrested after police say she left her 1-year-old son unattended inside of her car while she went shopping, leaving police to find the toddler attempting to climb out of the vehicle’s sunroof.
Azreil Rahman was taken into custody last week and charged with one count of child abandonment, authorities announced.
According to a news release from the Kenner Police Department, the incident took place on the sunny afternoon of Wednesday, Nov. 27, in the parking lot of a shopping center in the 3500 block of Williams Boulevard.
Police said there multiple people who were walking and driving in the area, all of whom “were shocked to see a small child trying to crawl through an open sunroof” in an effort to “escape a locked vehicle.”
Police received a flurry of 911 calls in regards to the child and officers “immediately” responded to the scene.
Upon arriving, first responders said they were able to quickly remove the child from the vehicle and described him as being in “good condition.”
The boy’s mother was subsequently located “shopping in a retail store” while her young son was left alone in the car. Police identified the mother as Rahman, of Metairie, Louisiana, which is about 6 miles northwest of New Orleans. She was immediately taken into custody and charged with child desertion.
Authorities said the child was placed in the care of relatives while the matter was further investigated.
“Thank you to all the people that called 911 and looked out for the welfare of this baby. Had he made it out of the car, through the sunroof, a fall from that height could prove fatal,” Kenner Police Chief Keith A. Conley said in a statement following the arrest. “There are no words to express the shock and anger over this so we will leave it at that.”
Conley added, “This is a CRIME. I can’t stress that enough!”
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