A video of a Los Angeles police officer soothing a young boy who had been abandoned by his mother in an accident went viral online.
The incident, which took place in May 2016, was classified as a hit-and-run. The mother, according to police, crashed into a fire hydrant, which began spraying water in the air.
She then fled the scene, leaving her little boy in the backseat.
Officer John Neal Cooke of the LAPD said that when he first arrived at the scene, he thought the collision involved just one person. However, a different officer found the young kid.
The mother, who was 27 years old at the time of the incident, allegedly abandoned the two-year-old kid alone.
Cooke can be seen picking up the terrified toddler and calming him down in video captured at the scene.
‘He was crying and reaching for me, so I mean it’s kind of just human nature,’ Cooke told CBS LA.
Cooke said that because he was raised in a large family, picking up the child came naturally to him.
Authorities believe the woman was intoxicated. She was found nearby and taken into custody.
She faced child endangerment charges.
‘It was pretty shocking to think not only did she leave him at all but the fact she left him in such a dangerous situation,’ Cooke said.
After being brought to a hospital, the baby was given over to the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services.