LAKEWOOD, New Jersey -- A father is facing charges after a driver spotted a baby crawling across a busy New Jersey roadway Saturday evening.
The child was unharmed after a neighbor and a passing motorist came to the baby's aid just before 6 p.m. on Joe Parker Road in Lakewood. The road has a speed limit of 40 miles per hour.
The infant's father, 41-year-old Evgeniy Dorman, surrendered at the Lakewood Police Department Friday afternoon and was subsequently charged with the cruelty/neglect of children and released pending a future court date.
The motorist, 41-year-old Cory Cannon, of Eatontown, told police he saw the child and initially thought it was a toy. But when he saw the child moving, he got out of his car to stop traffic.
"I was riding in my work truck on my way to another job, saw something in the middle of the street, wasn't exactly sure what it was," he said. "So I started to slow my truck down, so I could slow the traffic behind me, just in case it was something that could have done damage to the car, let alone it being a child. When I saw the child move, that's when I moved in to block off traffic and get myself out of the middle of the street. And then I snapped the pictures as I was getting out of the truck."
Cannon was then approached by the nearby resident, who took the child back to the family.
"I don't really consider myself a hero," Cannon said. "I just feel like I did the right thing at the right time."
Authorities say further investigation revealed the 10-month-old child had crawled through an open front door and then traveled approximately 140 feet into the road before being discovered by Cannon.