Mother arrested after allegedly abandoning 5-year-old

A woman accused of abandoning her 5-year-old daughter Monday near the San Francisco Zoo has been arrested on suspicion of child endangerment.

Samantha Patton, a 22-year-old San Francisco resident, was booked into San Francisco jail Monday night on two counts of child endangerment, one a felony and one a misdemeanor. She remains in custody this afternoon with bail set at $75,000.

Patton’s arrest occurred after witnesses on Monday saw a woman throwing items out of her vehicle in the 2800 block of Great Highway, near the zoo.

A short time later, the same woman was seen pushing a 5-year-old girl out of the parked car on the to the concrete, before driving away with a one-year-old boy still in the car.

Paramedics who happened to be in the area at the time saw the girl and assisted her, although she did not appear to be injured.

Police said a male subject with a skateboard was seen leaving the area on foot while the woman was throwing items from her car, and did not appear to have seen the child being pushed out of the car.

Police later located that man on Tuesday and identified him as the father of the one-year-old that was in the vehicle, while the woman was identified as the mother of both children, police said.

The father is cooperating with police, and told them where to find the infant.

Both the girl and the boy, who was found with a babysitter in Oakland, are now in the care of Child Protective Services. Patton also surrendered to police.

The case remains under investigation. Anyone with information is encouraged to contact the San Francisco Police Department’s anonymous tip line at (415) 575-4444 or send a text to TIP411 with “SFPD” at the beginning of the message.

A spokesman for the District Attorney’s Office said police had not yet presented the case for prosecution as of this afternoon.

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