Dashcam: 9-Month-Old Baby Flies from Van During Ohio Police Chase
Ohio police released disturbing dashboard camera footage that captured a 9-month-old baby beign ejected during a high-speed chase earlier this month.
The incident happened Dec. 1 when Bryan police approached a man—identified as Zachary Chervenka—wanted on active warrants in Indiana in a Walmart parking lot, WTVG-TV reports. Chervenka and his girlfriend were loading groceries into a van, which had their 9-month-old and 5-year-old children inside.
When confronted by an officer, Chervenka jumped behind the wheel, fleeing police and leaving his girlfriend behind. He also took off with his children still inside the van.
A high-speed chase ensued, and it reached 100 mph at times. Chervenka blew out a tire on his van but continued to try to evade officers.
As the van reached the split between State Road 15 and U.S. 127, the 9-month-old baby, still in a car seat, was ejected from the van. A police dashboard camera caught the sickening flight, but officers did not see the child fly from the vehicle in the dark.
Police stopped the chase after 15 minutes because of deteriorating weather conditions. While the pursuit was still ongoing, Chervenka called the children's mother to tell them where he had dropped off the 5-year-old and where the 9-month-old landed.
Police drove the mother to the location of the baby, and they searched for an hour for the child. When the infant was found, he was in his car seat and crying.
The baby was rushed to the hospital, and his body temperature was extremely low. That could have led to a life-threatening situation if the child had been outside any longer.
Police apprehended Chervenka in an apartment complex in Edgerton. He was charged with failure to comply with the order of a police officer and two counts of endangering children.
