Berwyn Police Blotter
Family searches for lost dog, not even aware of lost baby
April 9, 2007, 6:15 PM
Police got a call about an unsupervised toddler who was nearly hit by a car in the intersection of 35th and Ridgeland. A woman witness said she saw a large yellow dog run eastbound through that intersection, followed by a very little boy. The woman grabbed him and began to walk him down the block in an effort to find his house or a parent. She tried speaking to the child in both Spanish and English but he would not answer. The child wore no jacket and his skin was cold to the touch. The responding officer put a Berwyn Police Department jacket on the child to warm him. The officer walked up and down the 3400 block of Ridgeland with the child. No luck until a concerned citizen came up and said he had seen the child all alone in the alley more than once in the past, and believed he lived in a house on Elmwood. The officer went via alley to that house. There, a female was holding a plate of food in the backyard of the house. The officer asked her whether she was the mom or knew the mom. She went inside and returned with another woman. When the toddler saw her, he said “Mommy!” The officer told the woman what happened. Her explanation was that she was changing another child’s diaper when the dog ran out the door; she said she supposed her two-year-old son ran out after the dog. The whole family apparently knew the dog was missing but not the child. The officer asked the mom why her teenage brother was out looking for the dog but nobody was looking for the two-year-old. The woman said she was putting on shoes and jacket to look for him when the officer arrived with him. The officer then asked if she called 911 when she saw her son was gone; she said no. Once more, the officer asked why the woman’s 17-year-old brother was out looking for the dog rather than the two-year-old, if she knew the baby was missing as she had stated. She was silent. A juvenile detective arrived on the scene. The woman was issued a local ordinance ticket for lack of exercise of parental responsibility; DCFS will investigate the matter.
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