Man accused of leaving baby in car seat in middle of street

ST. LOUIS (First Alert 4/Gray News) - A man was charged Thursday after police in Missouri said he left a baby in the middle of a street and fled from law enforcement.

St. Louis City prosecutors charged 36-year-old Christopher Pearson with first-degree endangering the welfare of a child and resisting arrest by fleeing.

Pearson is being held at the St. Louis City Justice Center without bond.

According to court documents, Pearson left an infant in the middle of Goodfellow Avenue near Natural Bridge on Wednesday.

Witnesses told police they saw a man putting a car seat in a driving lane on Goodfellow Avenue. Police said a witness, believing the car seat was empty, went up to it and moved it out of the road, then found a baby inside.

According to court documents, Pearson picked up a call from the baby’s mother, who at one point asked him where the baby was. Investigators said Pearson told her he left the baby outside a police station. The mother told police that Pearson was supposed to be watching the baby.

Later, investigators said Pearson drove past a police car in the area of North Florissant and Warren streets and, after seeing the officers, sped away.

Pearson nearly crashed into other cars while running from officers, documents say.

Pearson then drove into a dead-end road, jumped a curb and drove through multiple fences, through a yard and over another sidewalk until he finally stopped, police said.

While fleeing, police said Pearson threw a gun out of the car. Two more guns were found inside the vehicle.

An initial court appearance for Pearson has not yet been scheduled.