Man charged with endangerment for abandoning infant son in parking lot

FAIRFIELD, Calif. (KTVU) - The Solano County District Attorney's Office filed felony child endangerment and abandonment charges today against a Fairfield man who allegedly left his 16-day-old son alone in a Suisun City shopping center parking lot Monday.

Daniel Stephen Mitchell, 18, pleaded not guilty to the charges this afternoon in Solano County Superior Court. He cried after a judge issued a restraining order that bars him from contacting his son.

Employees of a barbershop in the Sunset shopping center at 135 Sunset Ave. found the infant in a car seat and called police around 3:15 p.m. Monday.

The infant was taken to the NorthBay Medical Center and was transferred to UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital in Oakland. He is in stable condition today, police said.

Mitchell and his vehicle were recorded on a video surveillance camera in the shopping center, police said.

Mitchell was involved in a hit-and-run traffic collision in Fairfield while Suisun City police were in the shopping center.

He was taken to NorthBay Medical Center in Fairfield for treatment of his injuries from the collision, police said.

Police interviewed the infant's mother, who is not considered a suspect.

Mitchell also is charged with misdemeanor possession of a controlled substance.