A Minnesota woman has been charged after her 2-year-old daughter tumbled from the back seat of a moving vehicle while still strapped in a car seat. The incident was caught on a dashcam video that went viral.
Maimuna K. Hassan, 40, was charged with child endangerment, failing to properly secure a child restraint, and a misdemeanor driver’s license violation on Thursday, Jan. 17.
The incident took place at around 11:45 a.m.
Officials said the child’s mother was driving the vehicle when the incident happened. Hassan was making a turn before her daughter dropped out, and she continued to drive away, apparently unaware of the incident.
Mock immediately stopped his vehicle and ran to the child’s aid. Police and paramedics also responded and checked the child for injuries.
The child was properly strapped into the car seat, but the car seat was not fastened to the seat in the vehicle, according to the police.
Hassan told police her daughter must have unlocked the car seat from the passenger seat, according to the Star Tribune.
Court records online do not list an attorney who could speak for Hassan. Her first court appearance is Feb. 14.
According to the court documents obtained by the Star Tribune, the rear door on the left side of Hassan’s door was open before the incident. She had just left a parking lot off Minnesota street before the child in the car seat fell from the open door and landed on the street.
She told police she drove for about five blocks, parked, and walked back to the scene.
Hassan was found driving with only an instructional permit and was ticketed for failing to have another properly licensed adult in the car with her.
The dash camera footage went viral on social media after being uploaded by Mock on Jan. 14. It had been viewed more than 1.3 million times and shared more than 5,500 times as of Jan. 19.
“If it didn’t happen in front of me I’d never have believed it… the child was ok. the parents came back. paramedics and police checked the child out as well. very lucky,” Mock said in the Facebook post.
In a statement on Facebook, the City of Mankato said police officers were dispatched to Minnesota Street.
“At 11:45 a.m. today, police were dispatched to report of a child in the road on Minnesota Street. A two-year-old child had fallen out from the rear driver’s side of the vehicle driven by the child’s mother. The child was examined by public safety and ambulance staff and found not to be injured,” the city stated.
“A motorist with video footage reported the incident to public safety. The child was properly fastened inside the safety seat; however, the child safety seat was not fastened to the vehicle seat. Charges of child endangerment and child restraint system not fastened are being requested,” the city added in the post.
