Boy Wanders Away from La Petite Daycare: Passerby Sees him About to Step into Traffic

Arapahoe County social services is now investigating a day care center after a 3-year-old boy walked away unnoticed. A woman was driving northbound on South Yosemite Street near Union Avenue Tuesday morning when she saw a toddler about to step off the curb and into traffic.

She stopped in traffic, put on her flashing lights, got out and grabbed the boy. She took him inside the nearby La Petite Academy and asked if he belonged to them.

The boy's mother, Briahna Greenwood, was home showering when she got a call from La Petite. When she called back she was told her son, Methias McNair, was OK and was then put on hold. She said she couldn't wait so she drove down to her son's day care.

"All they indicated in their incident report was that Methias walked away and was returned," Greenwood said. "I'm upset." The family's attorney, Linda Lee, said Greenwood had to learn from police what happened.

"This is my baby, my baby. My son," Greenwood said. Lee said La Petite should have told the whole truth. She called the one sentence "incident report" from La Petite a cover up. "If you're hiding things like this, like police being called, strangers picking up your child ... a stranger? If you're hiding things like this, what else are you hiding?" Lee said.

In a statement La Petite said they are conducting additional training to insure that this never happens again. When asked if there was any disciplinary action, a spokeswoman said they took swift action against the people involved but would not elaborate.

Greenwood Village police told 7NEWS that it doesn't appear that a crime was committed. Lee disagrees.

"I used to be a prosecutor and I feel this is reckless endangerment. They put him in a situation where there was a risk of serious bodily injury," Lee said.

As for the motorist who stopped, Methias' parents call her a hero.

"To stop and make sure that my son was safe, when the people who were supposed to be doing that failed to do their job," said the boy's father.

"I am so thankful for her. She is an angel. She was at the right place at the right time. She saved my baby's life," Greenwood said.

Both parents say they shudder to think what could have happened had the motorist not been a Good Samaritan.

The Department of Human Services said Arapahoe County is investigating the case and that once the findings are forwarded to the state, a decision will be made on any adverse licensing action.