Louisiana Man Saves Baby Boy Abandoned On Highway Side

A 23-year-old man turned hero Thursday afternoon after saving a baby boy abandoned on the side of a busy highway. It turns out the infant was dropped off by a man who also assaulted the boy's mother.

Luke Defrene from Louisiana was on his way to work when he saw a man getting out of a vehicle to drop off a baby on the US Highway 90 in Raceland, reports USA Today.

"I looked back and he took off leaving the child there, so I flipped a U-turn in the grass to get to the baby,” Dufrene told the publication.

“I pulled into the median and put my truck in front of the child because I knew how dangerous this highway was,” Dufrene added. “And when I was pulling up, two women were approaching. One was a witness and the other was the mother.”

Lafourche Parish Sheriff’s Office said in a statement that the man, identified as 27-year-old Dillon Terrebonne, abandoned an infant on the roadside after physically assaulting the boy's mother during an argument.

The woman and her child were riding with Terrebonne in his SUV when they entered into an argument. An enraged Terrebonne pulled over, got out of the car, walked over to the mother on the passenger side, and began assaulting her. He beat her in the head and strangled her before she managed to break free from his clutches by getting off the vehicle.

However, Terrebonne drove off with the baby inside. He stopped after a mile to leave the baby on the side of the highway before driving away.

According to USA Today, the mother said she ran down the highway as fast as she could. "Thank God witnesses seen and got to him before I could,” she added.

Dufrene stayed with the mother while a lady witness called 911 to report the incident. "She was out of breath from running. I stayed the latest I could to make sure everything was under control,” Dufrene was quoted by the publication as saying.

Terrebonne, who was later located and arrested, has been charged with domestic abuse, battery involving strangulation, child endangerment and unauthorized use of a motor vehicle.

In a similar incident, an Amazon driver had rescued a 5-month-old baby boy abandoned by a carjacker on the side of a road in Houston. Juan Carlos Flores was on his delivery route Monday when he spotted the child on the roadside.