Child found

Published 12:00 am Tuesday, August 30, 2016

By John Howell
A man driving on Highway 51 South stopped suddenly Wednesday morning when he spotted a small child in a diaper and camo shirt wandering in the busy highway about 8 a.m.

When Batesville Police Department Patrolman Justin Johnson arrived he found the driver and several people gathered with the child but no parent in sight, according to his report.

“The child had blonde hair and had a large, hand-size whelp on the side of his head,” Johnson states. “The child’s eye appeared to be cut and possibly was starting to turn black.”

Johnson was joined by BPD Sgt. Will Parrish and Patrolman J. P. Wallace, who went door-to-door at the Skyline Motel looking for a parent. Johnson summoned Med Stat ambulance personnel to examine the boy.
Officers located two adult females in two separate rooms. Each told officers that the other was responsible for the child, the report states.

Med Stat transported the child to the Merit Health Batesville to evaluate his condition. Department of Human Services (DHS) personnel were notified and joined officer Johnson at the emergency room. One of the females was taken to BPD for further investigation.

“Sgt. Parrish and Wallace ended up making contact with the child’s grandmother and were able to get in touch with the child’s biological father,” Johnson’s report continues. The father came from work and was questioned by a DHS representative and detective Captain George Williford.

The investigation led officers to charge the father, Justin Wade Tamboli, 35, of Southaven with felony child abuse and neglect. Municipal Judge Jay Westfaul set Tamboli’s bond at $150,000. His first court appearance is scheduled for Batesville Municipal Court Wednesday, Sept. 7, BPD Assistant Chief Jimmy McCloud said.
The boy is in custody of DHS. “They’ll evaluate what’s best,” Williford said.

“I saw some grown men with tears in their eyes,” McCloud said.