Toddler wanders into rush hour traffic on Springfield street

Traffic came to a standstill during rush hour Monday after a toddler was found alone in the middle of busy intersection.

The boy is safe after motorists and bystanders stopped to help.

Kimberly Heckman was waiting for a tow truck with her husband.

“Just luckily, I looked in the rear-view mirror looking for that tow truck and there he was,” she said. “I jumped out of the car ... it was four lanes of traffic so I was a little ways down the other side street and I just took off running.”

Seeing the boy brought to mind her four grandchildren, she said.

>>Farmer who rescues kidnapped teen gets $7,000 reward — and gives it to girl he saves

“I have a grandson the exact same age as that little boy and that’s all I kept thinking in my head was ‘whoa,’ I couldn’t imagine. That was somebody’s baby, somebody’s grandchild.”

The 2-year-old boy is the grandson of Starley Lynch, 60, who appeared Tuesday in Clark County Municipal Court.

>>Springfield police looking for hit-and-run driver who struck pedestrian

“I don’t understand what’s going on ... I’ve never been in trouble before,” he told the judge before pleading not guilty to child endangerment.

Police say Lynch fell asleep while watching movies with the boy and that when he woke up, his grandson was gone.

About the Author