In the state of Arizona, all children under the age of five must be restrained in a proper car seat, booster seat, or other approved child restraint system. These child restraint systems should be compliant with all federal safety guidelines. Failing to do so or engaging in dangerous behavior with a child in the car can mean being charged with child endangerment if you are pulled over by law enforcement officers.
A Phoenix man is finding this out after he was pulled over by law enforcement officers earlier this week. ABC 15 in Phoenix reported that Albert Moreno, 24, has been arrested for driving his vehicle at excessive speed while having children in the vehicle with him, one of them unrestrained.
A trooper with the Arizona Department of Public Safety observed Moreno near Interstate 17 near New River Road, traveling at speeds of over 100 miles per hour.
The trooper pursued Moreno with lights engaged, but Moreno refused to pull over. According to law enforcement reports, Moreno suddenly got off the interstate highway at the nearest exit. He then drove his vehicle into a parking lot and into an area of the lot that was a dead end.
The DPS trooper caught up to Moreno and arrested him. The trooper observed that inside Moreno’s vehicle was a one-year-old infant in a forward facing car seat, an unrestrained seven-year-old being held on the lap of another adult passenger, and a seven-month-old baby who was in the backseat of the vehicle, restrained in a car seat.
During his questioning and arrest, Moreno told DPS troopers that he didn’t pull over when directed to do so because he was driving on a revoked license and that he was aware he would be in trouble having an unrestrained child in the car.
Moreno is currently facing the charges of driving on a revoked license, excessive speeding, unlawful flight from law enforcement officers, and multiple charges of child endangerment.
