Mankato Mother Gives Excuse as to Why Her Daughter Fell out of Car

Prosecutors have charged a woman whose 2-year-old child tumbled from the back seat of a moving vehicle while still strapped in a car seat.

Forty-year-old Maimuna Hassan of Mankato was charged Thursday with child endangerment, failing to properly secure a child passenger restraint and a misdemeanor driver’s license violation.

Dashcam video captured the moment the car seat and toddler rolled out of the vehicle Monday as the car turned a corner in Mankato. Police say the child was properly strapped into the car seat, but the car seat wasn’t fastened in the vehicle. The child was OK. The Star Tribune reports Hassan told police her daughter must have unlocked the car seat from the passenger seat. Online court records do not list an attorney who could speak for Hassan. Her first court appearance is Feb. 14. (AP)

The child was medically cleared by paramedics at the scene to travel to the hospital with family for further evaluation.

Officers inspected the car seat, and found no LATCH (Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children) strap on the car seat that would secure it to the vehicle. Authorities say Hassan’s 2004 Civic was LATCH compatible. The car seat chest straps were also not secured, according to the complaint.

Authorities discovered that Hassan is not licensed to drive, but has an instructional permit. However, she also didn’t have another licensed adult with her in the vehicle while she was driving, according to police.