I am always shocked and horrified by stories in which young children get left in cars. How can you forget there’s another person in the car? If you put them inside, what happened during your drive that made you forget to take them out? It has to be so scary for kids to be left alone in the car, not to mention potentially deadly. Orlander Murnell Linson Jr., a dad in Michigan, is facing child abuse charges after leaving his 1-year-old in an abandoned car. What’s even worse is that the car was taken to an impound lot with the little one still inside!
According to a news release from the Harper Woods Department of Public Safety posted to social media, the Harper Woods Police Department was contacted by a detective from the Detroit Police Department about 1 p.m. February 28, 2026, because a 1-year-old child was missing.
During their investigation into where the child could be, police learned a vehicle belonging to the child’s father had been impounded by Harper Woods police the day before.
The vehicle had been towed because it was illegally parked on the prohibited side of the street, abandoned, and blocked a residential driveway. According to the release, the vehicle was “locked at the time of the tow and was unable to be thoroughly inventoried.” The vehicle was taken to an impound lot in Eastpointe.
Harper Woods Police Chief Jason Hammerle told WXYZ that the officer who impounded the vehicle visually inspected the car and didn’t see the child inside. Hammerle was asked if officers had the tools to unlock a car if necessary.
“We do not possess those types of tools. I’m satisfied our officer followed policy in that incident. We cannot enter or damage locked vehicles, and he did a visual inspection from the outside — I’m satisfied with that,” Hammerle said.
According to the outlet, the child was in the car from the night of February 26 until the afternoon of February 28. He was found by officers from both the Detroit and Harper Woods police departments pinned between the car seat and a passenger door. When he was finally found at the impound lot, he was crying.
“That detective did an outstanding job by locating the car, considering it wasn’t quite registered to the suspect yet in this case,” Hammerle said, per WXYZ.
The boy was taken to the hospital and is in the custody of Child Protective Services. No word has been given if he will be reunited with his mom, who reported him missing in the first place.
Orlander Linson was arrested in connection with the incident. He pleaded not guilty to charges of child abuse – second degree and child abuse – leaving a child in a vehicle resulting in physical harm, Fox 2 reported.
“He realizes this is just a bad decision made in a split-second,” Linson’s lawyer, Davonne Darby, said when he appeared in court. “So we’re hoping that he can have a personal bond so that he can adjudicate this case and get back to his family quickly, your honor.”
The judge set his bond at $100,000, per WXYZ. Linson is expected back in court on March 11.
