Police in Texas say they will likely arrest a man in a viral TikTok video showing him using a baby to brush snow off a car (KDFM).
Police in Texas say they believe a 25-year-old man put a 3-month-old in danger when he used the baby to wipe snow off a car as part of a stunt to go viral on TikTok.
A winter storm hit the Lone Star state last week, blanketing the region with snow. After observing the video online, Port Arthur Police Department and Child Protective Services started investigating, Beaumont ABC and NBC affiliate KBMT reported. Police told the station they are trying to obtain an arrest warrant for child endangerment and the Jefferson County District Attorney’s Office could issue a warrant for the man’s arrest as soon as this week.
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Videos tend to pop up on social media of parents using their young kids as a snow brush as a joke. This video showed the man taking the baby and wiping the car’s windshield to clear off the snow.
But the police chief is not laughing.
“It’s a sad situation. I know a lot of people go to social media and they are looking for clicks … but this is not a deal where you should put a baby on the windshield,” Port Arthur Police Chief Tim Duriso told the TV station.
Cops reportedly conducted a welfare check on the child when they were made aware of the video. They have since learned that the man was not the only one on the scene of the incident.
“He had two other females with him at the time. We suspect one of them was the mom. They checked on the baby. The baby was just fine,” said Duriso.
It’s not clear if the two other people could face charges.
McClatchy News reports the video has since been taken down from TikTok.
Port Arthur is about 90 miles east of Houston along the Texas border with Louisiana.
