A man who was eating at a downtown Atlanta restaurant was arrested shortly after midnight when his 11-month-old son was found unattended in the back seat of his car, police said.
Jaccaro Santanio Barnes of a DeKalb County address was charged with cruelty to children and booked into the Fulton County jail, records show. His first court appearance is scheduled for Saturday.
According to an incident report obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, a parking lot attendant at Piedmont and Auburn avenues flagged down a patrol officer about 12:45 a.m. Friday. The man, who knew Barnes, said he heard “what seemed to be an infant crying” coming from a vehicle in the lot.
The officer then saw the baby in the car.
Police said the child was left unattended for about 45 minutes. When Barnes returned to the car, he told officers he was “at a nearby restaurant getting food,” according to the incident report. Channel 2 Action News identified that location as Mangos Caribbean Restaurant.
A unit from Grady Memorial Hospital was called to the scene and found no health concerns with the child, police said. Officers contacted the boy’s mother, who lives in southwest Atlanta, and took the child to her.
“That's not (Barnes),” she told Channel 2. “He loves his child.”
Channel 2 reported that Barnes’ uncle said the medication he is taking might have affected his judgment.
The case was referred to the state Division of Family and Children Services, according to the incident report.
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