A 2-year-old boy was killed after his father crashed an SUV while speeding away from arrest after he was caught shoplifting at a Walmart in Pennsylvania, authorities said. Christoper D. Kuhn, 27, of Hamilton, Mercer County, paused briefly to look at his son lying in the road after the three-vehicle crash and then fled on foot, the Bucks County District Attorney said in a statement. Kuhn was quickly arrested and charged with third-degree murder and other offenses. The boy had not been put in a car seat, officials said.
The incident began around noon when Kuhn tried to walk out of the Walmart in Levittown with a $228 Vizio sound bar, authorities said. He ignored store loss prevention’s instructions to stop as he took the boy out of the shopping cart and headed for the parking lot, the district attorney said. Kuhn then put the boy in a gold 2007 Jeep Wagon without securing his son in the car seat, according to authorities. After placing his sweatshirt over the vehicle’s rear license plate he sped away south on Route 13. The crash occurred when Kuhn went through a red light at an intersection, when his vehicle was struck by another SUV. Kuhn’s SUV then rolled and landed partially on a third vehicle before coming to a rest, police said. His son, who was not identified, was brought to Lower Bucks Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Police found a car seat in the back of the Kuhn’s SUV.
No one else was seriously hurt. Police had arrived at Walmart, but were not pursuing Kuhn when he crashed, the district attorney said. Kuhn, who was driving with a suspended license, was also charged with homicide by vehicle, accidents involving death or injury while not properly licensed, retail theft, child endangerment and motor vehicle offenses. He is held on $5 million bail and will next appear on court on Oct. 10. [Source: NJ.com]