A trip to Walmart wound up not only changing the rest of one man's day, but his entire life. The man will likely be focused on preparing his criminal defense as he faces serious allegations regarding theft and leaving the scene of an accident. The 27-year-old is currently behind bars on bail set at $5 million.

Police say the man stole nearly $300 worth of goods from a department store. The events that unfolded thereafter quickly turned tragic. He is accused of rushing out of the store and placing his young son in his vehicle without proper seat restraint. Authorities say he also tried to conceal his license plate with an article of clothing.

At some point, the vehicle was involved in a serious crash at a traffic light. The child was ejected from the car. Police say that instead of helping the injured boy, the man took off running, away from the area. He was eventually located and placed under arrest. Sadly, his son did not survive.

Charges against the man include retail theft, endangering a child and homicide by vehicle. Experienced criminal defense attorneys often assist New Jersey residents facing serious criminal charges, such as those against this man. There is no way to predict a particular outcome in court; however, it is typically the case that relying on aggressive defense representation increases the chances of obtaining a favorable outcome in a given scenario. Although conviction is not always able to be avoided, it is sometimes possible to secure lesser penalties than the maximum allowed by law.

Source: phillymag.com, “NJ Man Accused of Abandoning Son After Fleeing Police, Crashing Car“, Claire Sasko, Oct. 5, 2017