Nov. 23--A Midland man remained in custody Tuesday after he was charged with abandoning a child and evading police while driving a truck.
Taylor Blaine Slawson, 18, of Midland, was arrested Friday afternoon on a third-degree felony of abandoning a child without intent to return. He remained in the Midland County Central Detention Center on Tuesday on a $25,000 bond. He also was arrested Friday for outstanding warrants with the Midland County Sheriff's Office and the Midland Police Department.
A police officer observed a blue Dodge Ram pickup speeding near the 3300 block of West Illinois Avenue Nov. 15. After using a radar gun, the officer confirmed the truck was traveling at 50 mph in a 35 mph zone. Because of the traffic, the officer wrote in Slawson's arrest report, he was unable to quickly catch the driver.
As the Midland police officer tried to speed up to the truck, the truck allegedly ran a stop sign and continued to speed up in an attempt to lose the officer. Eventually, the truck turned into an alleyway. When the officer arrived at the truck, he noticed the driver had abandoned it, but the officer found a small child not strapped into the child's car seat, according to Slawson's arrest report.
While the officer was standing by the truck, the child's mother and owner of the pickup approached the officer and told him that Slawson was operating the vehicle.
Three days later, the officer conducted a follow-up interview. When he arrived to the woman's house, he observed Slawson in front of the residence. Slawson was arrested immediately for outstanding warrants.
Slawson, while in custody, told the officer that he was speeding away from him on Nov. 15, according to the report. He said he knew the officer was following him, so he decided to abandon the truck. Slawson also told the officer the child was buckled, but he was attempting to take the child with him. Slawson couldn't get the child out of the seat quickly, so he decided to run, the report stated.
"The suspect knew nobody would take the child because he figured (the officer)" would find the child first, the officer wrote in the arrest affidavit. The officer concluded that Slawson abandoned the child intentionally under circumstances that would expose the child to an "unreasonable risk of harm."
Slawson was transported to jail on the third-degree felony and for the misdemeanor warrants.
If convicted of the felony charge, he could serve up to 10 years in jail for abandoning a child without intent to return.
James Cannon can be reached at [email protected].
Copyright 2011 - Midland Reporter-Telegram, Texas
