Video catches man abandoning infant in parking lot

An 18-year-old man has been arrested for allegedly abandoning his 16-day-old baby in the parking lot of a California strip mall.

Surveillance video from the mall shows the man driving into the lot in Suisun City  Monday afternoon before pulling to a stop in front of a barbershop. Police said Daniel Mitchell then took a baby carrier from the back seat and placed it in the lot, in the direct sun, before pulling away.

Erick Keaton and co-worker Wendell Cooper said they spotted the carrier from the barbershop, but didn't realize what was inside.

“We’re just shocked, I mean it’s a newborn baby,” Cooper said in an interview with CNN, “plus the way people pull into the smoke shop (next door) he could have been hit by anybody’s car.”

Witness describe the baby as alert but not crying and wrapped in blankets but wearing no clothing.

Police said Mitchell was later involved in a hit-and-run crash in another city, where officers found him. He has been arrested on probable charge for child endangerment and abandonment as well as committing a felony while on bail. He is also facing misdemeanor charges of possession of suspected cocaine.

The baby was flown to a local medical center for treatment of an unspecified condition, according to news reports.

The baby’s mother, who is married to Mitchell, is not a suspect, police said.

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