A Georgia father has been arrested after he was filmed allegedly hitting a sobbing toddler in a Kroger parking lot.
Footage posted online shows the suspect, identified as 44-year-old James Collins, repeatedly yelling at a three-year-old boy in his white GMC truck to “shut up” and “get in the damn car” as the toddler cries.
He then hits the boy at least three times, while shouting, “I told him to shut up.”
The father then begins to scold the child for apparently urinating on himself.
“Stop peeing,” he yells. “You’re better off peeing at school.”
44-year-old Georgia father James Collins has been arrested after he was filmed allegedly hitting his sobbing three-year-old son
At that moment, a woman could be seen standing and staring at the man.
“You got a problem?” he confronts her. “Mind your own business, woman.”
“I’m raising my child the way I want to be raised,” Collins continues, as the unidentified woman tries to speak.
He continues to yell at the woman as she walks past while he loads his groceries into the truck, telling her to “get the f*** out of my face.”
The man who originally uploaded the video, TikTok user _ainabainab, said the alleged attack happened on August 7 at the Kroger in Lilburn, Georgia around 4:14 p.m.
“I called 911 immediately after the incident and gave them his license plate number and the direction he was traveling so they would be aware of this incident,” he said. wrote on Reddit.
“What makes me angry is that there doesn’t seem to be a sense of urgency on their part,” he continued. “They’re just ‘looking’ at the vehicle, they’re not actively looking for it. They didn’t even ask me for a description of the man.
“Let’s all work together to get this man in prison where he belongs, for the sake of this little boy,” the videographer urged.
Finally, an unknown woman stops and stares at the man
She tries to confront him, but Collins tells her to “mind her own business” and “get the f*** out of my face”
Many people on Reddit were very positive about the woman who came forward and gave the uploader advice on how to find the father.
“That lady is the real deal,” one Redditor wrote. “Anyone who puts themselves in harm’s way to defend a child that isn’t even their own deserves all the good things life has to offer.”
Others also expressed concerns about the child’s well-being.
“That poor kid is going to have lasting emotional damage,” another user commented, while a third noted that “his home life must be horrible.”
“These ‘parents’ don’t realize the long-lasting consequences of their actions,” the Reddit user wrote. “Seriously, you should take a test to become a parent.”
A fourth Redditor called it “one of life’s cruel jokes: there are people who REALLY want a child but can’t have one.”
‘In the meantime, this f***** s***bag exists.’
Collins is now charged with first-degree child abuse and is being held in the Gwinnett County Jail on $4,600 bail
Lilburn Police Chief Chris Dusik has since said the incident did not occur within city limits and that is why officers did not respond and are not investigating. according to WSB-TV.
But the Gwinnett County Police Department said They received several messages and comments about the video, which has been shared thousands of times since it was uploaded to Reddit on Friday, so they decided to launch an investigation.
Officers were then shown surveillance footage from the supermarket and were able to confirm the incident.
According to police, the boy suffered minor injuries and is now being cared for by family members. The Family and Children’s Services department was also notified, officers said.
Collins is now charged with first-degree child abuse and is being held in the Gwinnett County Jail on $4,600 bail.
Investigators have said they cannot release further details about the video, fearing it would jeopardize the ongoing investigation.