Working the overnight shift at a gas station comes with some risks, considering you never know what someone’s intentions might be when they enter the store. Proving just that, one gas station clerk in Detroit, Michigan, was forced to call cops after they saw who walked through the front door – and it’s no one they ever expected.
The unnamed Citgo gas station clerk was working his shift as he had done many nights before when he heard a customer enter the building. After making his way to the register, the clerk was immediately forced to call police when he realized who it was standing in his store late at night – a three-year-old boy.
The entire incident was caught on surveillance video, in which the three-year-old boy can be seen wandering around the gas station all by himself. The young boy innocently walked into the store, wearing nothing but his pajamas, despite the freezing temperatures. Of course, as soon as the clerk saw the boy without a parent, he immediately called the police.
“He had on some pajamas, kids character pajamas, and his socks,” explained Officer Tinisha Alexander, according to Daily Mail. “And he had a blanket…He wasn’t cold, he just kept saying ‘I was looking for my mommy.’”
The boy had woken up in the middle of the night and couldn’t find his mother anywhere in their home, so he began to frantically search the neighborhood, eventually ending up at the gas station.
When police officers arrived on the scene, they took the boy by the hand to their cruiser to drive him through the neighborhood and help him find his home. However, as they began to make their way up the street, they found the boy’s mother searching for her missing child.
“She was hysterical and crying and scared but then happy that she seen him in the scout car with us,” said Alexander, according to Clash Daily. After the mother and son were reunited, it was discovered that the entire incident was a complete accident. The boy’s mother had woken up and stepped outside the apartment, going to the parking lot, when her son awoke and was unable to find her. Although the entire incident was an accident, Child Protective Services will be looking into the matter.
Parenting involves making many choices you must think twice about. It’s important to keep your child’s well-being in mind when you make any decision, even if it is as simple as whether you should step outside even for the briefest moment. Although it may seem like a harmless task, clearly, there’s always a chance something could happen.
Luckily, the young boy wasn’t harmed and was able to be returned to his mom. However, this should serve as a lesson to all parents to always be prepared for the unexpected and never go too far from your child, even if you think they are safe in bed and you are right outside — it’s better to be safe than sorry.
