Man Left Baby Alone In Unlocked Car At Walmart: Police

CARTERSVILLE, GA — A Cartersville man was charged over the weekend after police found his baby unsupervised inside a vehicle at Walmart. Deputies with the Bartow County Sheriff's Office were dispatched around 8:30 p.m. Saturday, April 28 to the store's parking lot at 101 Market Place Boulevard.

Two deputies removed an infant from a car seat inside a 1999 Pontiac Sunfire, which was unlocked at the time deputies discovered the child. The baby "appeared to be in good health," but EMS crews were called in for evaluation, according to an incident report released by the Bartow County Sheriff's Office.

The deputies made contact with the father of the child, identified as 20-year-old Christopher Kile Hiatt of Cartersville.

"He went into the Walmart and forgot that he had his daughter...in the vehicle with him," the deputy wrote in the report. "He said he was in the store for approximately 10 minutes when he was called to the front of the store."

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The deputy told Hiatt he left the little girl inside the unlocked car without supervision, so he would be arrested and charged with reckless conduct. The baby's mother was called to the scene and took the child to Cartersville Medical Center for an assessment, the report adds.

Hiatt was booked into the Bartow County Jail on one count of misdemeanor reckless conduct. He was initially held on a $1,000 bond, but has since been released.

Photo: Christopher Hiatt. Credit: Bartow County Sheriff's Office