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Michael Clohessy is seen on bodycam footage during his arrest on May 26 (Albuquerque Police Department).
A Colorado man is facing child abuse charges after allegedly leaving his 6-year-old son in a hot, locked vehicle while he shopped at a Walmart in New Mexico.
The Albuquerque Police Department released bodycam footage showing the arrest of 45-year-old Michael Clohessy, which local CBS affiliate KRQE shared. A criminal complaint, sourced by the outlet, states that surveillance cameras captured Clohessy entering the Walmart alone on Monday, leaving the child in the car’s back seat. The outside temperature that day was reportedly 80 degrees.
Police said that the boy was red in the face when they found him in the car.
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The complaint indicates Clohessy claimed he was in the store for approximately 15 minutes, but police suspect 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.
