Father arrested after slapping children in front of officer, police say

GASTONIA, N.C. — A Gaston County man was arrested after police said he slapped his children when an officer escorted them home after finding them wandering in the road.

Two children, ages 5 and 3, wandered away from their home and tried to cross New Hope Road near Eastridge Mall in Gastonia, police said.

An officer walked the children home and that was when the children's father, Tequan King, struck the kids in the head while the officer was still holding their hands.

Police quickly arrested King.

A man who stopped to help the children as they tried to cross the street said he saw their father slap both children.

"It makes your heart almost stop, you know?" Daniel Byrd said.

Byrd and his wife were driving when he saw the 5-year-old fearlessly step into traffic.

"He just held up his little hand, you know, but he was so short they couldn't see him trying to stop traffic," Byrd said.

A car came within inches of hitting the child and his sibling, Byrd said.

"I don't think I could have lived with myself if something had happened to those children," Byrd said.

The couple stopped and called police and another passerby helped the children get out of the street. Byrd wonders if things could have been much worse.

"If he is assaulting the children in front of the police officer, then it has to run through your mind what they would have went through if he goes them back home," Byrd said.

The children's mother was inside bathing another child when the incident happened. She was not charged.

King is out of jail and has to follow social services instructions regarding contact with his children.

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