Man gets 90 days for leaving infant son in car when running from cops

February 13, 2016 at 12:02a.m.

YOUNGSTOWN

A man pleading no contest Friday in municipal court to a charge of child endangering for leaving an infant in a running car when he ran from police earlier this year told Judge Elizabeth Kobly the baby is his son.

The judge told Hector Santiago, 24, that made a bad situation even worse.

“It’s your baby on top of it all. It’s your son,” Judge Kobly said. “Shame on you. People like you don’t deserve to be parents.”

Santiago pleaded no contest and was found guilty on charges of driving under suspension and child endangering, a first-degree misdemeanor that carries a maximum sentence of six months.

Santiago was given a 90-day sentence and will get credit for the time served since he was taken into custody Jan. 21.

He was arrested after Community Police Unit officers spotted a car he was driving Jan. 19 on the East Side and went to investigate because it was parked at the end of a dead end street.

Reports said Santiago, the driver of the car, tried to drive away but got stuck in mud and snow in the yard of a vacant home on Pearl Street. He then jumped out of the car and ran away, leaving his 8-month-old son strapped in a car seat.

Santiago managed to elude police that day. He was taken into custody a few days later. The officers on the scene cared for the baby until Childrens Service Board workers could arrive. They, in turn, gave the baby to his mother.

The judge asked Santiago how he could leave a baby in his car.

“I got paranoid,” Santiago said. “I had an outstanding warrant.”

The judge asked if Santiago had a plan for the baby after he left the car. Santiago said he was going to have a relative who lived nearby pick the baby up. He also said he managed to call the mother while he was running away.

“I felt bad about leaving him,” Santiago said.

Paul Conn, Santiago’s lawyer, said his client made a huge mistake. Judge Kobly said all Santiago was thinking about was himself.

“He was thinking about saving himself,” Judge Kobly said.