Stressed parents can be forgetful. Not sure where you left your cell phone? Lost the car keys? Driven away with your coffee on the top of your car? It happens to the best of us. Being a parent means we have a lot going on – all the time. And the occasional forgetfulness can generally be excused.
In this case, however, a mother’s forgetfulness could have turned fatal for her 5-week-old baby. Catalina Clouser, a 19-year-old mother in Arizona left her 5-week-old son on the top of her car, strapped in his car seat, as she drove away. The child fell off the car in the middle of an intersection as Catalina drove away.
According to Leilani Gerlach, who lives in a home nearby the intersection, “The car seat was turned to the side so anyone passing by wouldn’t be able to tell there was an actual baby inside. Thank god they stopped.” The baby was rescued from the intersection and the police were called. Catalina Clouser did not return to find her baby until after the police arrived at the scene.
Catalina had been smoking marijuana earlier in the evening, after which her boyfriend was arrested for aggravated DUI. After her boyfriend’s arrest, Catalina proceeded to smoke more marijuana, after which she drove away with her infant on the roof of the car.
The child is ok and he is now with Child Protective Services. Catalina was arrested for child abuse and aggravated DUI.
