PIERCE COUNTY, Wash — A 34-year-old man faces felony child abandonment charges after authorities say he left his 4-year-old daughter on the side of a busy Pierce County freeway over the weekend because she was being "disruptive and loud."
Morgan Barnes was arrested Saturday night after witnesses reported seeing him pull over his SUV on state Route 512 near Pioneer Avenue in Puyallup, remove the child from the backseat and leave her near the fog line that separates the shoulder from traffic lanes, according to court documents.
Multiple witnesses pulled over and prevented the girl from entering the roadway until law enforcement arrived, Washington State Patrol Trooper Shannon McKenzie said.
"To come to a decision to leave your child on the side of a freeway ... I can't even wrap my head a