Michael Clohessy is seen on bodycam footage during his arrest on May 26 (Albuquerque Police Department).
A man from Colorado was charged with child abuse for allegedly leaving his 6-year-old son alone in a hot, locked car while he went shopping at a Walmart in New Mexico.
The Albuquerque Police Department shared bodycam footage of the arrest of Michael Clohessy, 45, with the local CBS affiliate KRQE. Clohessy was captured on surveillance cameras entering the Walmart store on his own, leaving the child unattended in the back seat of the car. The temperature outside on that day reached 80 degrees, as reported in a criminal complaint obtained by the outlet.
Police said that the boy was red in the face when they found him in the car.
Love true crime? Sign up for our newsletter, The Law&Crime Docket, to get the latest real-life crime stories delivered right to your inbox.
According to the complaint, Clohessy claimed he had only been inside the store for about 15 minutes, but police suspected it was closer to 20 minutes.
In the body camera footage, a police officer can be heard clarifying the details of Clohessy’s alleged actions, including the fact that he did not know it was against the law to leave a child unattended in a vehicle. The officer can be heard asking Clohessy if he had knowledge of a 1-year-old baby who died in a hot car in the area just a day before, and he confirmed that he did.
“There’s a kid that died yesterday,” Clohessy said. “A 1-year-old. I understand. A 1-year-old’s a big difference.”
“A child’s a child,” the officer responded.
“There’s a big difference between a 1-year-old,” Clohessy said, seemingly refuting the comparison between the 1-year-old victim to his 6-year-old child.
The officer replied, “No, sir.”
Also brought up by the officer was the fact that Clohessy allegedly locked the child in the car and took his car keys with him. According to the complaint — and the officer in the video — Clohessy’s explanation for his alleged actions was, “It’s Albuquerque.” The officer said that this indicated that the father knew there was a “level of danger in this city that needs to be addressed.”
Clohessy was booked into Bernalillo County’s Metropolitan Detention Center on one count of open child abuse. He was released from custody on Thursday.
