Man Rescues 10-Month-Old Baby Found Crawling Across Busy NJ Street

LAKEWOOD, NJ — A good Samaritan stopped fast-moving traffic and saved a 10-month-old child who was crawling around in the middle of a busy New Jersey street.

"I thought it was a toy or something until [the baby] moved,” Cory M. Cannon said of the scary early evening incident on September 22. "I knew I needed to get some sort of proof and my GPS was open on my phone, so I used my work vehicle to slow down traffic behind me and took the pic as I was exiting the vehicle and halting oncoming cars.”

Cannon and a neighbor helped return the unharmed baby to the family, who weren’t aware the little one had escaped their home, located 140 feet from Joe Parker Road, where the child was found.

According to police, an older sibling of the curious and quick-moving tot may have left a door ajar. "I believe [the child] crawled right out of the front door," Cannon said.

A woman at the Dorman residence later told a reporter the baby’s escape “was an accident."

After a weeklong investigation, Sgt. Gregory Staffordsmith of the Lakewood Police Department said the baby’s dad, Evgeniy Dorman, 41, has been charged with cruelty and neglect of a child. He is currently free pending his court date.

Despite the serious allegations against him, several neighbors came to Dorman's defense and insisted he was a devoted father.

“It’s devastating what people are saying on social media,” one local woman, who wished to remain anonymous, told the Asbury Park Press. “I’m personally destroyed by this because I know the family.”

As for Cannon, the situation served as a reminder of just how important his own 4-month-old baby girl is to him. "I couldn’t wait to see my daughter and give her a big bear hug," he said.

Read more: Asbury Park Press, CBS2