Child, 4, Left In Car, Puts It In Gear, Crashes, Dad Charged: Report

NEW HAVEN, CT — A 4-year-old child left alone inside a car ended up moving the gear shift, which caused the car to hit another vehicle, police said.

On Saturday night, police said Margarito Gallegas, 55, of West Haven, left his two young children, ages four and seven, in the car while he was inside a Fair Haven laundromat.

While the father was inside tending laundry, the 4-year-old child moved the gear shift, the car moved forward and hit another car, New Haven Police spokesperson Officer Christian Bruckhart said.

Gallegas was charged with risk of injury to a minor, police said. Neither child was seriously injured, Bruckhart said.