False Report Of Missing Child Prompts Big Police Response In Mansfield

MANSFIELD, CT — A Mansfield man who was eventually determined to be drunk is accused of losing track of his child in between two trips to the same supermarket Monday, prompting a massive search in the area, according to a state police report.

The saga began at 8:18 Monday night when state police responded to a call from someone at the Price Chopper supermarket at 1220 Storrs Road about a missing child. State police said the child is 5 years old.

The caller, identified as 30-year-old Mansfield resident Colby Parker, said he went into the store and left the child in his vehicle, according to an incident report.

Parker told state police that he returned to his vehicle from the store and the child was missing, according to an incident report.

Price Chopper employees, state troopers, UConn police officers and Coventry police officers combed the area and did not locate a child, according to an incident report.

Even a canine unit track was unsuccessful, state police said.

A reverse 911 call was also initiated to alert residents in the surrounding area.

Price Chopper staffers reviewed the store’s security camera footage, and it was determined that Parker made two separate trips to Price Chopper that evening, according to an incident report. Based upon the video footage, the child had accompanied Parker for the first trip to the store, but not for the second, state police said.

At 9:12 p.m. investigators arrived at the child's residence and the child was located unharmed, according to an incident report.

Parker, who had been exhibiting signs of "possible impairment," then agreed to take a sobriety test, which he failed, state police said.

Parker was unaware that the child had not traveled with him to the store on the second trip, according to an incident report.

State police notified the state Department of Children and Families and the child was turned over to the custody of a family member while an investigation was initiated.

Parker was charged with:

• Driving under the influence
• Second-degree reckless endangerment
• Risk of injury to child
• Second-degree breach of peace

Parker was held overnight on a $25,000 bond and was to appear in Rockville Superior Court Tuesday.