New York woman charged after video surfaces of unattended 9-month-old crawling in busy roadway, police say

A woman from upstate New York was charged with child endangerment after a video surfaced showing her 9-month-old child crawling around a busy roadway.

Ledrika Ford, 27, was charged on Friday with endangering the welfare of a child after a video surfaced showing her infant child crawling around a roadway, unaccompanied. The video posted on Facebook also showed several people attending to the child, according to a press release from the Utica Police Department.

Police launched an investigation shortly after learning about the video.

After hours of searching, police were finally able to track down Ford.

She told police that she was not sure how the child ended up on the street. Ford said she was with a relative and while they were in the vehicle the infant was secured in rear seat but shortly after when she turned to look in the back, she saw that the child was no longer there.

Ford and the unidentified relative returned to their original location where they recovered the child, Police said.

Police notified Child Protective Services and around 11:30 a.m. on Saturday, four children were removed from the custody of Ford, Lt. Bryan Coromato of the Utica Police department said.

Coromato said that in addition to the 9-month-old, a 1-year-old, two-year-old and 5-year-old were also removed from the home.

Ford, who is not in police custody, is facing a misdemeanor charge of endangering the welfare of a child which could mean up to a year in prison if convicted.

She is scheduled to appear in court on March 23.