Parents accidentally leave 4-year-old son in taxi after he fell asleep in backseat

WESTON, Mass. — A 4-year-old Weston boy was recovered safely by police after his parents accidentally left him in a taxi after getting a ride home from Boston Logan International Airport on Wednesday night.

Weston police received a call Wednesday night shortly after 6 p.m. from the boy’s parents saying they had left their son in a minivan-style taxi cab after they got a ride home from Logan Airport.

The family arrived at Logan on a United Airlines flight and when being dropped off at home by the taxi, each parent thought the other had taken the 4-year-old in the house, according to State Police. Several other children in the family were also in the taxi and were brought inside by their parents.

Weston Police called State Police at Logan and Massport to help locate and identify the taxi and its driver. They were able able to determine the taxi was owned by Paul Taxi Inc., and troopers then tracked down the driver at 7:45 p.m. The driver, who will not be named, parked the vehicle in a lot at 55 Temple St. in Dorchester.

State police, Boston police and Boston EMS all responded to the address and located the child, unharmed, in the third row of the vehicle sound asleep. Police said the driver stored his taxi in the lot and had gone home to Lawrence.

The child was brought to a local police station where he was reunited with his father.

“Based on interviews with the family and the driver, we determine the child was accidentally left in the taxi and remained asleep the entire time,” said state police spokesman David Procopio. “We further determined that the taxi driver did not check the vehicle at the conclusion of his shift as required.”

A hackney violation was issued to the driver of that taxi.

“The recovery of the little boy was a great team effort by multiple agencies, Troopers, officers, and dispatchers and Massport personnel, and everyone involved felt a sense of overwhelming relief once the child was located and found to be safe,” David Procopio said in a statement.

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