Devante Smith, 28, of Bellefontaine, was arrested for child endangerment Wednesday, April 23, after a toddler he was left in charge of was found walking alone along the 200 block of North Elm Street.
Passersby saw the toddler and stayed with the child until police arrived on scene about 2:34 p.m.
Officers were able to locate the child’s residence along Oakland Square.
Smith later arrived at the home. He told officers he asked a friend to watch the child, left the home about 2:49 p.m. and was only gone about five minutes. Officers noted they received the call about the child about 15 minutes prior to when Smith said he left the home.
Another child — an infant — was also reportedly in the home at the time of the incident.
The suspect was arrested and became combative, slamming his head and legs against the walls of the patrol vehicle en route to the Logan County Jail, where he was lodged.
The child was released to its mother.
Wanted juvenile arrested
A juvenile wanted for a probation violation related to a felony warrant out of Shelby County was apprehended Wednesday, April 23, in the city.
Bellefontaine police officers received a tip from an area law enforcement agency and located the 17-year-old male suspect operating a vehicle in the parking lot of an apartment complex along Gunntown Road.
As the suspect vehicle turned west out of the complex, officers activated lights and sirens to initiate a traffic stop. The suspect did not immediately comply and continued westbound traveling through a busy intersection before stopping in a business parking lot in the 2100 block of South Main Street.
The suspect was ordered out the vehicle and was arrested without further incident.
He was lodged in the Central Ohio Youth Center in Marysville.