SURREY, B.C. -- RCMP are recommending charges against a man who they say struck a three-year-old boy in the face and abandoned him at a bus stop in Surrey, B.C.
Staff Sgt. Joe Johal says police are recommending charges of assault and child abandonment.
Johal says the man is a Surrey resident who is related to the child but would not confirm he is the boy's father.
The suspect has been released from custody with conditions and a court appearance is scheduled, something B.C. police have the power to do pending Crown approval of charges.
Johal thanked witnesses who contacted police on Saturday morning about the incident as well as those who circulated a photo of the boy on social media.
Callers reported the boy was struck in the face and pushed by a man who then got on a bus, leaving the boy behind.
"A lot of people called and (there were) a lot of tips, and even the arrest that took place was due to a tip from a citizen who observed and called us," said Johal in an interview on Sunday.
He said police were able to identify the suspect and get him in custody within a few hours.
The boy has since been reunited with his mother. The Ministry of Children and Family Development was involved Saturday and will keep the file open, said Johal.
Lucy Ingram, an employee at nearby Berezan Liquor Store, said she brought the boy inside the store after a customer told her he had been left at the bus stop.
When she found him he was wearing swim trunks, a T-shirt, a summer jacket, a toque and one mitten. His feet were soaked and he was "very distraught," she said.
"We were trying to get him to say anything, but he didn't say anything, not even a word for over an hour and a half," she said in a phone interview.
She and a coworker tried to cheer him up with iPhone games until authorities arrived. A customer posted his photo on her community Facebook page, and people began coming into the store with toys, she said.
"The amount of people that came in just from the Facebook page to bring him teddy bears, little dinosaur toys... That perked him right up when he saw the dinosaur toys. From there on in his name was 'dinosaur.' That was all he would say," she said.
Another customer drove home and came back with sweatpants and a hoodie for him to wear, she added.
Ingram said she was happy to hear the boy was reunited with his mother, as once he began talking he was only asking for his mom. She added she felt "sick to her stomach" thinking about the boy being left alone at the stop.
"I just couldn't imagine," said Ingram. "The thought of that being my grandson or my granddaughter or one of my daughters when they were small, it just horrified me."
The investigation continues and police are still looking to speak with additional witnesses.
No names have been released.
