A New Jersey father’s bail has been set at $5 million after authorities say that he abandoned his dying son after he crashed his car.
Christopher Kuhn, 27, of Hamilton, was escaping a Walmart in Levittown, Pa. on Tuesday after he allegedly stole $228 worth of speakers.
When he jumped in his car he hurriedly placed his son inside the car without buckling him in, WPVI-TV reported.
But instead of strapping his son into a car seat, Kuhn reportedly rushed to conceal his license plate with a sweatshirt. The father then drove away, and ran a red light, subsequently crashing into two other vehicles.
During the crash, Kuhn’s 2-year-old son was thrown from the vehicle onto the road and police said the father paused to look at his injured son on the street and then ran away from the scene.
“It was more important for Mr. Kuhn to attempt to get away from a misdemeanor retail theft by covering his license plate with his sweatshirt than it was to properly secure his two- year-old son in his car seat before fleeing at a high rate of speed,” Bob James, of the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office, reportedly said.
Fernando Medrano was reportedly driving when he crashed into Kuhn’s Jeep. He said that Kuhn was driving too fast, and he couldn’t slow down to avoid hitting him.
Kuhn’s vehicle reportedly flipped and then hit another car on the road.
“I saw it when the baby flew, and I saw Kuhn run away,” Medrano told the station. “I just can’t believe he ran away.”
Police reportedly caught Kuhn after a brief foot chase and Officers performed CPR on the child until paramedics arrived and brought him to the hospital, but the boy died.
“It’s unreal,” James said. “How can a dad choose even his own freedom over the health and safety and welfare of his own kid.”
Court records indicate that Kuhn was driving with a suspended license, Bucks County Courier Times reported.
In 2016, Kuhn allegedly strangled, bit and held a screwdriver to his ex-girlfriend’s neck, while she held his 9-month-old baby.
He had also threatened to kill her in a previous incident, the Trentonian reported.
It wasn’t immediately apparent whether the child involved in this incident was the same involved in this crash.
Kuhn has been jailed with bail set at $5 million and charged with third-degree murder, homicide by vehicle and retail theft.
Childcare Workers Caught On Camera Taunting Child With Autism
In a shocking sequence of events, two childcare workers have now turned themselves into police custody after a video surfaced of them berating, taunting and throwing a backpack at an 8-year-old child with autism.
It all started on September 1, when Winter Haven PD found out about a Snapchat video showing 26-year-old Kaderrica Smith and then 19-year-old Alexis Henderson taunting, aggravating, yelling at and tripping a student at Our Children’s Academy.
The 8-year-old child is seen and heard in the video, crying and hiding underneath a table while Henderson and Smith continue to taunt him.
At one point in the video, you can see how the child tries to run towards one of the workers when she grabs his arms and sweeps his legs out from under him causing him to fall.
The video lasts for about three minutes and at one point shows one of the workers throwing a backpack at the child, hitting him in the face.
“There has to be an accountability measure for folks,” said Winter Haven Police Chief Charlie Bird.
“Especially when they’re supposed to be the professionals. They get hired as the professionals, they’re being paid as the professionals.”
In initial interviews, the two said that they felt they were acting appropriately and did absolutely nothing wrong. Henderson and Smith reportedly just received their certification for childcare last month.
“Those aren’t methods that you can even begin to defend as being used to defuse a situation with an autistic child,” said Bird.
Reports say that they were each immediately fired by the faculty and DCF placed a hold on their certifications.
The child was later interviewed by a DCF Child Protection Team member on September 15 and it was determined that the acts were criminal. Police were initially unable to locate the two, thus giving reason to issue a warrant for their arrest.
Polk officers checking listed address in Dundee for Alexis Henderson. Empty – no signs of the wanted childcare worker. @abcactionnews pic.twitter.com/X5C5hxjhfT
— Ryan Smith (@RyanReports) September 21, 2017
“These workers were supposed to be trained in how to handle children with behavioral issues,” said Bird.
“They are trained to deescalate situations, but that obviously did not happen.”
Kaderrica Smith is now being charged with Battery and Child Abuse while Alexis Henderson is being charged with Child Neglect.ABC Action News made several attempts to get
ABC Action News reportedly made several attempts to get comment from Our Children’s Academy, however the phone calls went unanswered and a worker at the front door said no one was available.
On Friday morning, Smith and Henderson, reportedly turned themselves into to police custody where they were booked into the Polk County Jail.
Henderson, who has been charged with Child Neglect has bonded out.
Smith, who faces charges of Child Abuse and Battery was reportedly held without bond. At her first appearance on Friday, Smith’s bond was set at $5,000 and the conditions include no contact with minors and also to stay away from the school.