Hartford police arrested a 25-year-old father after a 2-year-old boy wandered outside while under his care Monday, police said.
Rashon Reyes, 25, of Hartford is facing a risk of injury to a minor charge.
Hartford police received a call at 11:23 a.m. reporting a child wandering near 1085 Capitol Avenue in the capital city. The toddler was wearing a diaper and a T-shirt and his parents were nowhere to be found, police said.
Hartford police walked door-to-door to figure out who the child belonged to and they called the Department of Children and Families per department protocol. A neighbor held onto the child as police looked for his parents.
An ambulance took the child away as a precaution.
A man and woman arrived at the scene and told police they were the boy's parents. They went inside with police and the man was taken away in handcuffs. Police said he was supposed to be watching the toddler when the 2-year-old wandered outside.
The mother was reunited with the child at the hospital and brought him home. She declined to comment.
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Police have not said if the mother will also be charged, but neighbors told NBC Connecticut that both parents should be held responsible.
"I have a child myself I would never leave my child unattended on a street like this," Trevor Simms, of Hartford, said. "A whole bunch of things could happen."
Hartford Police Department's Special Investigation Division, formerly the juvenile division, is overseeing the investigation.
It's unknown how long the child was outside, how he got there and what the father was doing while the toddler was outside.
