Man confronts dad who left child alone in running truck

FLORENCE, Ky. -- Don't trust anybody: That's the message Mark Herrmann wanted to convey by confronting a dad who left his child in the back seat of a running truck in a parking lot, and that's the message that others are spreading as the video gets shared online.

Herrmann saw the dad go into a store, leaving the child and the keys in the unlocked car, he told ABC affiliate WCPO. He was concerned that something could have happened to the child, he said.

"I just wanted people to know what's going on and let people know what's happening and really think about what they're doing with their child in the car," said Herrmann, who has a daughter of his own.

That's why he turned on his camera. He asked the boy if he was OK, and he asked where his parents were.

When the boy's dad returned, Herrmann explained why the situation worried him.

"You know if I was a bad guy, I probably could have just drove off with this," Herrmann said of the truck.

To this the father replied that, had Herrmann done that, the father would have shot him in the back of the head. When Herrmann continued to confront him, the dad said that he was watching the child from a distance the whole time.

Herrmann posted the video to his Facebook page, where it has more than 150,000 views.

As WCPO pointed out, abduction is not the only danger in leaving a child in a car. Others include heat-related illnesses, the child getting out of the car into traffic or the child accidentally putting the car into gear.

Local police are investigating but no one has been charged. If you come across a similar situation, Capt. Tom Grau of the Florence Police Department discouraged confrontation with the parents. The best thing to do, he said, is call police.