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Jonathan Christian Ballard: Texas Father Arrested For Leaving Baby In Hot Car

By Rahul Srinivas
Published on: 14:41 PST, Aug 12, 2016

In yet another case of a baby being left in a hot car, a 25-year-old man has been arrested for leaving his 10-month-old baby inside his car while he went to work. According to Dallas News, the incident occurred in the town of Pantego, located in North Texas. The report adds that the man, later identified as Jonathan Christian Ballard, left his daughter inside the vehicle for over 30 minutes. Local authorities later confirmed to newspersons that they had issued a warrant for the arrest of Jonathan following which he was taken into custody.

Authorities launched an investigation into the incident which reportedly happened in August 10, shortly after lunch time there. Officials were alerted about the incident by an emergency call which told them about a baby being left alone inside a car. Pantego Police Department Chief Thomas Griffith told reporters the following.

“The baby appeared to be very red faced was alert and wasn’t crying. We were told when the baby was found in the vehicle baby was crying.”

Following this, first responders arrived on scene. However, by the time the emergency crew reached the child, they found that the baby was removed from the car by Ballard and his wife. According to FOX 40 News, Jonathan works at the TexasFitt gym and was entrusted with the responsibility of caring for the baby while his wife worked out. However, it seems Jonathan completely forgot about their child and realized his folly once she returned to check on their little girl. After removing the baby out of the hot car, the couple took the child into the gym where Jonathan worked.

Nevertheless, the emergency workers, just to ensure the child’s safety, checked on the child and were relieved to find that the little child was no longer in distress. They did, however, observe that the baby’s face had turned red and that the body temperature was above normal. To ensure the child remained safe, she was taken to the Cook Children’s Hospital in Fort Worth. After a thorough examination, the child was released from the hospital the same day and is now reportedly doing fine.

As for the investigation, officials have commenced preliminary information into the incident at the end of which they decided to file charges against Jonathan Christian Ballard. He was charged with Abandoning or Endangering a Child through Criminal Negligence.

This is not the first time we have heard of parents leaving behind their children in a hot car. In fact, according to Pantego police chief Thomas Griffith, so far, 26 children have died this year alone in the U.S. after they were left behind inside cars. Five of those deaths happened in Texas alone. He added that several organizations are trying to spread awareness about the dangers of leaving their kids unattended inside cars. One of the ways in which his department has tried to raise awareness was to post signs outside local businesses that reminded people to check whether they have left their babies inside their car. The signs read: “Where’s baby? Look before you lock.”

Griffith talked about the issue from a national level.

“It’s a problem nationwide. We’re trying to do our part to prevent it from happening. But it’s going to take an entire changed attitude and people’s thinking to affect a permanent change to always think of the children before they think of anything else. We’re trying to get this message out in front of people’s eyes as much as we can.”

What do you think about the increasing incidents of parents leaving behind their kids inside hot cars?

[Image Via Pixabay]

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