UPDATE (June 2nd):
After a 3-year-old escaped a Chattanooga daycare and was found on a busy street, the Tennessee Department of Human Services says they are now investigating the daycare.
TDHS says they received 2 complaints on May 31st and June 1st about Alton Park Child Development Center.
They say the agency is currently under investigation now.
EARLIER (June 1st):
A Chattanooga mother is looking for answers after she learned her 3-year-old son was rescued from a busy street Wednesday afternoon, after getting out of his daycare on his first day.
Jamyia Johnson tells us she learned about her son Damauri's adventure from a Facebook post by the person who rescued him.
That woman, Kimberly Roberts, posted this:
About 2:20pm, I found this little toddler, maybe 2 1/2-3 years old, running out in the busy intersection of 38th St and Alton Park Blvd. He was so scared, but I pulled my car over and convinced him to get back on the sidewalk. So many people stopped to ask who he belonged to. I swiftly picked him up and calmed him down and went to the day care across the street. A worker opened the door to give me his backpack. I was fuming then! I demanded to speak to the Director and she said they figured out how he got out The side gate! Moms, Dads and grandparents, please inspect your childcare premises. I couldn’t help to think the worst.
Thank you to the guy that was helping calm him down and watched my car while I left it running with my purse inside, while I hurried and carried him to safety. Call it a mother’s instinct. I’m just praying that he is safe!!
This happened at the Alton Park Child Development Center at 804 West 38th Street, close to the intersection of Alton Park Boulevard.
We reached out to the daycare for comment, but employees there declined.
Online records from the Tennessee Department of Human Services shows the Alton Park Child Development Center was cited for several violations in 2019:
- An educator took 9 4-year-old children to the preschool classroom, leaving 4 children ages 1 and 2 without an educator.
- A television was seen on an unsecured shelf in the room with kids aged 2 to 5.
- 2 people were seen working with children without cleared background checks.
- The thermostat registered 59 degrees and the heat wasn't turned on.
- Electrical cords were seen within children's reach in the room with kids aged 2 to 5.
- Two portable heaters were seen in the room with kids aged 2 to 5, and one seen in the room with kids aged 12 to 30 months.
The records show that corrective action was taken for all of the violations listed above.
Johnson told us on Thursday that she doesn't plan on taking her son back to the daycare.
Johnson says she has been going to the church for years and attended the same daycare as her son.
She says she did not receive a phone call or apology when Daumari ended up in the busy street.
Johnson says she has now spoken with a representative from the Department of Human Services.
We have reached out to them and are waiting to hear back.
We're working to learn more, and we'll update this story when we do.