RCMP south of Edmonton have laid charges against a 33-year-old man, after an infant was left alone in a vehicle outside a bar in Calmar late Friday night.
Leduc RCMP said officers were called at about 10:30 p.m. Friday, March 16 – after a witness found the driver, who appeared to be intoxicated, pulled over on the side of the road near the bar.
The driver had reportedly left his unheated, unlocked car, with his 2 month old child inside as he went to the bar for drinks. The child was not dressed for the weather.
After a time, it was reported the driver said he had a child with him, and a concerned citizen went to the car and found the child inside.
Bystanders looked after the child until police arrived, and the child was taken by ambulance to the Leduc Hospital. RCMP said the child did not suffer any adverse effects from the incident.
Police managed to identify the child’s mother, and she went to the hospital.
The 33 year old man from Drayton Valley, who is the child’s father, left the bar and drove off before officers arrived. He was later located and arrested on an outstanding warrant, and a number of charges, including abandoning a child, and causing a child to be in need of intervention, impaired driving, and breach of recognizance.
RCMP said at the time of his arrest, the accused was not aware his child was no longer in the car.
The man was released on his own recognizance, and is scheduled to appear in a Leduc courtroom March 22.
Editor’s Note: CTV News is not naming the accused at this time in order to protect the identity of the child.
