A 7-year-old boy sitting in a car in the fire lane at a Family Dollar was towed Thursday night. Now, his mom and the tow truck driver are having to answer questions.
The panicked mom called 911 around 10 p.m. after running into the store for just a minute. When she came out, her car and her son were gone.
911 Operator: “What is your emergency?”
Mother: “Oh god. I'm in Eagledale Plaza off of Lafayette Road and my car is gone and my son is in the car."
Minutes later, Indiana’s Finest also called 911.
“We just impounded a vehicle from Eagledale Plaza and when we got it almost to our lot, the driver got out of his vehicle to refuel and saw that there was a child that had been lying... I guess on the floor in the back."
The boy said he was sitting up front when the truck "pulled up and just took the car with me in it."
“He didn't know I was in the car until we stopped and I opened the door"
The driver admitting "I never got out of the wrecker to see if anybody was in the car."
“Common sense would dictate that if you're going to tow a car that you're going to pull up to, look inside the car make sure no one’s in it,” said Linda Jackson with IMPD.
Not only was the boy towed but police noticed the car was "just lifted off the ground, with no safety straps or lights."
“You're not supposed to be in the back of a car when it's being towed anyway, but then couple that with the fact that it wasn't hooked up correctly,” said Jackson.
The driver drove the car from the store almost across town to Indiana’s Finest Wrecker without the car being hooked up properly.
Jason Gosset, the tow truck driver, is now facing charges for criminal recklessness. The boy's mom, Robyn Hardy, is also facing charges for neglect after leaving her son in a car alone in below 30 degree weather.
“It doesn't matter if it's one minute or 30 seconds, you don't leave your children in alone in an unattended vehicle,” said Jackson.
Indiana’s Finest did not want to make a comment.
The boy is now staying with his grandmother.
