Police: Baby abandoned in wrecked car | Lexington Herald Leader

JEFFERSONVILLE — A Montgomery County man is being psychiatrically evaluated after a string of events on Wednesday that began when he abducted his 15 month-old baby and ended with a seven hour stand-off, police said.

Along the way, Robin Clay Maple of Camargo allegedly abandoned his injured 15-month-old son in a wrecked vehicle.

After an alleged alcohol-fueled altercation with his fiancée in Mount Sterling, Maple took their son and drove off.

Around 1 a.m. Wednesday, he had crashed his car on Hope-Means Road in Menifee County.

The car rolled over, leaving father and son underneath the vehicle. Maple crawled out, leaving his son, Billy Maple, trapped underneath the car with serious injuries, said Kentucky State Police spokesman Ralph Lockard.

Police received a tip around 7 a.m. Wednesday notifying them Maple was at his father's house on Fox Road near Jeffersonville in Montgomery County.

“He refused to come out, and he was armed,” Lockard said.

About 20 officers spent the morning negotiating with Maple, blocking off Fox Road.

Maple surrendered peacefully around 2 p.m. He was taken to the Montgomery County Sheriff's Department, but is undergoing psychiatric evaluation elsewhere, Lockard said.

Later in the afternoon, Maple's relatives lingered on the lawn of the white and red-brick home where he had barricaded himself.

A woman who identified herself as Maple's aunt said the baby was in good condition after only having stitches on his tongue. She blamed the incident on Maple's fiancée.

However, Lockard said the baby remained in serious condition, but was “out of the danger area” at the University of Kentucky Children's Hospital in Lexington as of Wednesday afternoon.

Lockard said charges pending against Maple are kidnapping, burglary, first-degree assault, first degree wanton endangerment and leaving the scene of an accident.

This is not the first time Maple has driven away with his son. Police found his then 8-month-old son unharmed in Maple's car in December 2007. He had taken his son after a domestic dispute.