Inset: Dazhawn Richardson speaking to police after allegedly leaving his 1-year-old in the car to go shopping (Solon Police Dept.). Background: Officers retrieving Richardson’s child from the car (Solon PD).
A 28-year-old father in Ohio allegedly left his 1-year-old baby alone in his car while he went shopping for groceries at a local Aldi.
Dazhawn Richardson was charged with one count of child endangerment over the incident, court records show. According to an incident report, officers with the Solon Police Department responded to the parking lot of a Aldi grocery store in the 6200 block of Som Center Road at about 3 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 14. The caller had requested a welfare check on a baby they said had been left unattended in a vehicle.
Upon arriving at the location, police located the black Mercedes sedan in question on the north side of the building. Approaching officers said they could hear a baby crying and soon spotted the child, who was in a car seat in the rear of the vehicle. Police used “a lock-out tool” to gain entry to the car and contacted emergency medical personnel with the local fire department to “check for any medical issues with the child.”
As the medics were arriving, an adult male, later identified as Richardson, exited the Aldi grocery store and told authorities he was the father of the child.
After the medical assessment, the child was returned to Richardson’s custody. Police then issued him a citation for child endangerment.
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Body camera footage obtained by Law&Crime begins with officers approaching the car as the baby inside can be heard crying. The front and back windows on the passenger side of the car appear to be cracked about an inch.
The responding officer can be heard speaking with a female witness, presumably the person who called 911, about the situation. The witness said she was a mother and had been waiting at the car for some time while the baby cried.
“The baby is crying. It’s been a while,” she told the officer.
“Yeah, that’s totally unacceptable. I mean, that’s literally a baby,” the officer says in agreement.
When officers get the door open, the child appears to cry even louder. An officer takes him out of the car and noted that the little boy appeared cold and was shaking. He further commented that the car had not been running and the heat was not on despite it being only 40 degrees outside.
“The kid was literally shivering,” the officer first responding officer can be heard telling one of his colleagues.
When police met Richardson exiting the store, he told them he did not have any change to get a grocery cart and could not hold his son and the groceries at the same time. Richardson, who appeared to be genuinely concerned, repeatedly confirmed that he understood his actions were “stupid” and could have put his son’s safety at risk.
He claimed he initially tried to bring his son into the store with him, but was unable to do it. He also mentioned that he had recently donated blood and his arm hurt as a result.
Police and paramedics said they believed the boy was in the car for at least 15 minutes.
Shortly after authorities mentioned that Child Protective Services could be called, Richardson was allowed to go into the ambulance with his son. About a minute later, one of the paramedics can also be heard telling police that Richardson was crying.
“Oh he should be. Absolutely,” one of the officers responds.
It was not immediately clear when Richardson was scheduled to appear in court on the child endangerment charge.
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