'I was intoxicated, I left my baby in the car': 911 dispatch played in court
EASTPOINTE, Mich. (FOX 2) - The father of a 13-month-old toddler left inside a car that was impounded, appeared in a preliminary examination Harper Woods court Wednesday.
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Orlander Murnell Linson will be bound over a judge ruled today, charged with two counts: second-degree child abuse and child abuse — leaving a child in a vehicle resulting in physical harm.
Linson, 35, of Detroit, is accused of abandoning his vehicle in front of a residence on the street, leaving his 13-month-old child inside.
"The court believes the prosecution has established probable cause," the judge said. "The evidence has been presented today, shows that there was a willful actual intent that is driving. Intoxicated and not being able to find where he left the car.
"And the attorney pointed out that, he thought the mother had the child. And that was fully established. Right now, I'm going to say that he left, lost his car with the child. And so the court is satisfied."
Linson was given a $100,000/10 percent cash surety with a curfew for his job at Little Caesars Arena and a GPS tether. He was also ordered no driving with a valid license or his son.
He is expected to stay at his brother's residence before his next court appearance on April 1.
It was discovered that Linson was drunk at the time when he left his car with the toddler inside.
The defense attorney attempted to shift away from willful neglect - knowing or intentionally while blaming the mother, one of the dispatch operators and the first police officer who did not see the 13-month-old in the car before it was towed.
On a second call to a Harper Woods 911 dispatcher at 1 a.m. Feb. 28, Linson said he was intoxicated the night before and left his child in the Ford sedan he just purchased.
"I was intoxicated man … that was last night, yesterday. My son is only 1 year old, He is still in the car. I'm at home right now, I can't even believe this," Linson said during the call.
"I left my baby in the car," Linson said in the recording to the dispatcher. "He's still in the car, he's still in the backseat."
Harper Woods police were dispatched to the 20600 block of Damman Street on Feb. 27 after reports of an abandoned vehicle.
The dispatcher asked Linson at one point who watches the child.
"Yeah, it's really me," Linson said - describing the car as a Ford Fusion but unable to give a license plate number because the car was new.
The dispatcher looked up impound records for a Fusion but did not find it.
After being rushed to St. John's hospital, the child was found two days later to be suffering from hypothermia and rhabdomyolysis.
Orlander Linson
Recovery of the child:
Detroit police detective Steven Townsend went to Woods Towing in Harper Woods on the report that on Feb. 28.
There was information that a vehicle, a Ford Taurus, was towed to that lot from, a location of Harper Woods. And I had the VIN number to the vehicle.
"I saw little tiny human fingers. The child's wrist was pinned between the car seat and the seat belt. His arm was extended and he was hanging by his wrist," said Townsend.
Townsend and an employee used a hammer to break the glass and retrieve the child. The detective then called 911 for medical help.
"His eyes were real wide, his skin was cold to the touch, he was wearing kind of like a jumpsuit," Townsend said. "He had no shoes or socks on. He did not have his feet covered, his diaper was full. He didn't make a peep. No apparent injuries."
The first police officer who discovered the car abandoned and set it up to be towed, did not see the 13-month-old inside.
A police officer who responded to a report of the car on Damman Street said the vehicle was a Ford Taurus - not a Fusion.
He said there were not exigent circumstances to go inside the car. He said he saw coats and a child seat tipped over, but did not see the child inside.
A second detective found the key to the Taurus and a open bottle of vodka with a cell phone on the floor.
How Linson was found:
The day before the child went missing, Linson was driving the Ford sedan with his girlfriend, her 3-year-old daughter and their 13-month-old son inside.
When Linson was found around 6 p.m. on Feb. 27, it was by a woman returning from work who discovered the little girl standing in the street on Damman.
Linson had parked the car when Deborah Robertson said she discovered the 3-year-old girl standing in the street.
Robertson said the Ford sedan was parked across the street and that Linson appeared drunk, and never mentioned having a son.
Linson received a blanket, water and a cereal bar from Robertson. She also fed the child, let the 3-year-old use the bathroom and watch cartoons.
Linson and the girl was driven to his apartment off Seven Mile, but his directions were convoluted and it took a little while to find the residence. She said she dropped them off and both walked into the apartment together.
The mother of the boy, Linson's girlfriend, Arcadia Shoulders, took the stand first and was questioned about how she lost track of the child.
She said her 3-year-old daughter has a different father and that Orlander Linson III, who is 1, is Linson's son/
Shoulders said that they had gotten into an argument over Linson purchasing the car when she got out at the Harper Woods fire station before going to the police station.
Both were in the car with her at the time of the argument. After getting back to their apartment, only her daughter was inside with Linson. She asked where the boy was, but said she thought he was with Linson's brother.
She said she realized on Feb. 27 that the baby wasn't with relatives. She realized earlier that day. Shoulders was looking for the child and called the police.
Shoulders was asked how she was feeling about all this- and she answered, "Crazy."
"Why?" the prosecutor asked.
"Because my baby is missing," she said.
The Source: Information for this report is from previous stories and today's preliminary exam.