Mom charged with endangerment after 2-year-old drives off

Fairview Heights police said a woman faces a misdemeanor child endangerment after her 2-year-old son, who was left in a car at a convenience store, was able to put the car into reverse and drive it onto Lincoln Highway.

The 2-year-old and his infant brother were in the car as it traveled in reverse in circles in the roadway outside Huck’s at 1029 Lincoln Highway on Sunday night, according to a police department news release on Tuesday.

Tykeia O’Dell, the mother of the children, spotted what happened but couldn’t get into the car because the doors locked when the car was taken out of park.

That’s when Ryan Jones of Swansea came to the rescue.

Jones was driving east on Lincoln Highway in his Ford F-150 when he saw the circling car and heard O’Dell yelling for her kids. Ryan, a father of two, pulled his truck up close to where the vehicle was circling, waited for the right moment and then drove his truck into the path of the car to stop it. The car dropped to idle speed, struck the driver’s side door of Jones’ truck and came to a halt.

But while Fairview Heights police officers attempted to open the car doors to free the children, the toddler put the car in drive and it then rolled forward into a patrol car.

Officers were finally able to use an unlocking tool to enter the car.

The two boys were not hurt but O’Dell suffered minor cuts to her arm when trying to open her car doors. She refused treatment and was later given the summons.

This story was originally published August 16, 2016 at 4:50 PM with the headline "Mom charged with endangerment after 2-year-old drives off."