“The actions of this defendant are just appalling. To lock a child in the trunk of a car without shoes or a coat when it was about 20 degrees outside is simply inhumane,” Montgomery County Prosecutor Mat Heck Jr. stated in a release. “Thankfully, a citizen called the police. This is an example of why we say ‘see something, say something.’”
A neighbor called 911 on Dec. 26 to report that Ellis dragged an 8-year-old boy from his Water Street apartment and locked him in the trunk of a car. The caller reported the child had no coat or shoes.
Video surveillance showed Ellis lock the child in the trunk and then walk away, leaving the boy inside the trunk for approximately 15 seconds before releasing him, according to an affidavit and statement of facts filed Wednesday in Dayton Municipal Court.
The child told police that Ellis put him in the trunk to discipline him, according to the release.
Ellis remains in the Montgomery County Jail, where he has been held since his Monday arrest by Dayton police.
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