Man charged with child abandonment
A Texarkana man has been arrested on a charge of abandoning a child without intent to return and evading arrest after he allegedly fled from police during a traffic stop. His 7-year-old daughter was in the vehicle but was found running down a street alone shortly after he fled, according to police.
Brandon Webb was arrested on charges of abandoning a child without intent to return, evading arrest and failure to identify, said Shawn Vaughn, a spokesman for the Texarkana, Texas, Police Department. A judge set his bond at $120,000 Tuesday.
Officer Shawn Jacobs stopped Webb for a minor traffic violation at about 1:40 a.m. Tuesday in the Dollar General parking lot on New Boston Road. He allegedly gave Jacobs a fake name, but the officer believed he was lying to him.
Once he established his real name, Jacobs told him that he was under arrest. However, Webb sped across the parking lot and through a nearby field. Jacobs chose not to pursue Webb because he had his young daughter in the car with him and he knew who he was at that point.
Officers found the car abandoned a few blocks away with neither Webb nor the child inside. About 10 minutes later, Officer Misty Tyler saw the little girl running alone on Celeste Street. She was crying and didn’t have on any shoes or a coat. Police believe she had been abandoned by her father in the middle of the night so he could run faster.
Police then found Webb hiding inside a closet with one of his other children in a house on Blanton Street. He was arrested without incident and taken to the Bi-State jail.
Child Protective Services responded to make sure the child was safe.