Authorities suspect man threw baby from car

Richard McTear got in a fight with his ex-girlfriend and drove off with the child, sheriff's officials say.
Authorities arrested a man Tuesday on suspicion he threw a 3-month-old child from a car on an interstate in Tampa, Florida.

The boy died. Richard McTear Jr., 21, got in a fight with his ex-girlfriend early Tuesday and picked up the baby and threw him to the ground, the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office said. McTear then got in his blue Chevrolet Impala with the child and left, the sheriff’s office said. A motorist found the baby on Interstate 275 a short while later. The child was pronounced dead at 4:30 a.m., the sheriff’s office said. McTear is not related to the child, said sheriff’s spokeswoman Debbie Carter. A video shown on CNN affiliate WFLA TV shows McTear being led out of a Tampa police squad car after his arrest. McTear had long dreadlocks and was wearing a red polo-type shirt with a wide blue stripe across the chest. He ducked his head as TV cameras surrounded him on his walk into a police building. When asked by reporters if he had thrown the child out of the car window, McTear answered, “It’s a dirty game. A dirty game.”

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