Man Arrested, Accused Of Leaving Toddler Alone In Edmond Park

An Edmond man is in custody after he was accused of leaving a toddler at a local park.  Police said the toddler was found late Monday night in a car at Shannon Miller Park.

According to police, a woman said her son found the toddler in a car seat in Shannon Miller Park. When she realized the child was alone, she quickly dialed 911.

"Toddler seemed to not be harmed, was asleep," Edmond police spokeswoman Emily Ward said.

Before discovering the toddler, police said the same woman noticed a man walking through the area.

"It was pretty dark outside, but she could tell that he had a white shirt on and a baseball cap on backwards," Ward said. "He was acting strange, just kind of acting erratic is how she put it."

She said she saw the man carrying a large object. He placed it on the ground and began walking away.

"That object ended up being the baby in the car seat," said Ward. "We put out an alert to all of the officers of his description, as well as UCO police."

Police quickly found 36-year-old Duncan Lunceford on the UCO campus. Officers are talking with him trying to figure out why he left the toddler.

"He wasn't making a lot of sense," Ward said. "None of his statements really told a full story."

Officers think he was possibly under the influence of drugs. He was arrested on a complaint of child abuse/neglect and had an outstanding felony warrant out of Latimer County.

"We did end up making contact through mother of the child, through some messages that were coming into his cellphone," Ward said.

The mother was taken to Edmond police for questioning, but later released. Police said she and Lunceford know each other, but it's uncertain why he had the child. Investigators said the boy is now in DHS custody.