SWEETWATER, Texas (AP) _ A 4-year-old boy who police say was dumped from his car “like a bag of garbage” by his father along a West Texas interstate highway is in state custody a day after he was found by a passing motorist.
Sweetwater police Chief Jim Kelley tells the Abilene Reporter-News that the boy was found on Interstate 20 about 6:30 a.m. Tuesday, about three hours after he was allegedly abandoned. The newspaper reported the youth was hospitalized in good condition.
Child Protective Services spokeswoman Marleigh Meissner told The Associated Press a custody hearing is set for July 7.
A police spokesman in the Dallas-Fort Worth suburb of Saginaw said the father, Carlos Rico, faced a child endangerment charge and did not have an attorney.
Sweetwater is about 225 miles west of Dallas.
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)