Father charged after leaving infant in grocery store shopping cart

Springfield man is accused of leaving his 1-year-old child alone in a shopping cart at the Meijer on Hillcrest Avenue and he's now facing child endangering charges.

Patrick Reynolds, 48, is charged with a single count of misdemeanor child endangering and is expected in court Tuesday, records show.

Officers responded to a Meijer grocery store after a woman called 911 after she found the child in the parking lot.

“She heard a small child crying,” a probable cause affidavit filed in Clark County Municipal Court read. “She put her items in her car and looked around the parking lot and found a small child sitting in a shopping cart by the grocery side of the store.”

Reynolds told police he pushed the cart with his 1-year-old in it next to his car by the cart corral while he put his groceries in his vehicle.

“He stated he was gone approximately three minutes, when he realized he left his daughter in the cart. He then turned around and drove back (to) the store,” records read.

Reynolds’ daughter was released to her mother, and the 48-year-old was ordered into court.

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