Deputies: Man Threw Toddler Out Car Window

A Rowan County man faces charges after he threw his 3-year-old son out a car window, authorities said.

Deputies charged Jason Carpenter, 29, with two misdemeanor counts of assault on a child under 12 and one felony count of assault with a deadly weapon on a government official after the incident Tuesday on Faith Road near Rockwell.

According to investigators, Carpenter and his wife are estranged and he took the toddler from the child's grandparents' house without permission. They called 911.

When deputies tried to stop the car Carpenter was driving, they say he threw the boy out and tried to get away. Witnesses said they had slam on their brakes and swerve to miss the child; one man said it scared him to death.

A short distance down the road Carpenter crashed into a deputy's patrol car and was arrested. Fortunately, no one was hurt.

Carpenter is in the Rowan County Detention Center on $10,000 bond.