THIS is the shocking moment a baby was found crawling alone in the middle of a busy road in Utica, New York in the dark.
The nine-month-old boy was found by strangers on Bleecker Street on Friday night.
Video posted on Facebook captures the infant squirming on his stomach as several people rush over to help him and call emergency services.
Towards the end of the clip, a woman is heard running into the crowd that had gathered around the tot and yelling: “That’s my baby! Oh my god!”
The tot’s mum has since been charged in connection with the incident.
After the video – which has been viewed 2.2million times – was seen by authorities, police tracked down 27-year-old Ledrika Ford in Utica, which is 500 blocks away.
The mother told officers that she thought her baby was in her car's backseat. When she looked and saw he wasn't there, she returned to the street to find him.
In a statement released on Saturday morning, Utica Police said Ford told officers that she and an unnamed relative were unsure as to how her infant ended up on the street.
The statement read: “The advised officers that the infant was secured in the rear of a vehicle that she was in when they left a location on Bleecker Street.
“A short time later, she looked to the back seat and found that the child was not there. They immediately returned to the area of Pellettieri Avenue and Bleecker Street where they located her child.”
Two Utica Police officers and two workers from Oneida County Child Protective Services met at Ford's home on Saturday around 11.30am.
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After the two-hour visit, the nine-month-old baby and Ford's other three children - ages one, two and five - were taken away.
Ford could be heard crying as the car containing her kids drove away.
The 27-year-old mother, who is not in police custody, was charged with the misdemeanor of endangering the welfare of a child, which could mean up to one year in prison if she is convicted.
She is due back in court on Friday, March 23.
The baby was taken to a local hospital for evaluation, but police have yet to release his condition.
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