NYPD searching for mom's ex-boyfriend after 2-year-old boy found alone in Harlem
HARLEM, Manhattan (WABC) -- Police in Harlem are searching for the ex-boyfriend of the mother of a 2-year-old boy who was found sitting by himself in front of a building Thursday morning.
Officers responded to a 911 call of a child sitting on the basement steps of 272 West 132nd Street around 11 a.m. A woman who lives in the building found the boy behind a table that was on its side, pinned in by a shopping cart. It seemed unlikely he got there on his own.
Police believe the ex-boyfriend of the child's mother is the man pictured on surveillance video walking with the little boy before he was left alone.
That man has been identified as 22-year-old Antonio Staton. Police say he is not the child's father, but used to pick the little boy up from day care with the child's mother when they were still together.
It is not clear why Staton picked the child up before abandoning him on the basement steps. Police are still searching for him.
The woman who first found the little boy said she held him until police arrived.
"I see a head behind the table and I was about to start fussing and then I look over and the baby looked up and started whimpering and put his arms out," the woman said.
The boy was said to be in good condition, and he was taken to Harlem Hospital to be evaluated.
Anyone with information in regards to this incident is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782).
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