CMPD details manhunt that led to arrest of Charlotte couple accused of abusing 4-month-old

A four-month manhunt for the Charlotte parents of a severely abused 4-month-old boy has ended in arrests, and others could face charges in the case, police said Friday.

Around 8 p.m. Thursday, officers arrested the baby’s father, 24-year-old Brandon Augustine, after he ordered food at a McDonald’s restaurant on Lawyers Road in Mint Hill, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Lt. James Ivie said at a news conference Friday.

Soon after Augustine’s arrest, police found the baby’s mother, 23-year-old Mildred Chestnut, at a nearby tent and took her into custody. The couple had spent at least several nights at the tent, Ivie said.

Each was arrested without incident on a charge of felony child abuse inflicting serious injury, Ivie said. Their son has severe brain injuries, among other problems, police said.

‘Manhunt’ for the parents

Police had searched for the parents since March, when they fled Atrium Hospital and abandoned their son, according to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department.

The couple had taken their son to the hospital claiming he was in a car crash, police said in April. Officers quickly determined the injuries were not consistent with the reported “minor vehicle crash,” according to an April CMPD news release.

“We do know that they had been on the run in Georgia, through South Carolina and had made it back to this area,” Ivie said Friday. “We’re not getting into specifics as to where all they went.”

He declined to say how police knew Augustine was at the McDonald’s, but “tips from the public and help from the other law enforcement agencies.... all led to their capture.”

The parents were by themselves and were arrested without incident, Ivie said.

A vehicle belonging to them was found in Austell, Georgia, near Atlanta, on March 21 after it was intentionally abandoned and hidden, police said. CMPD believes the couple received help while on the run, including money, shelter and rides.

Anyone who helped the parents elude police could be charged with aiding and abetting, and accessory after the fact of a felony, CMPD officials said.

Before they were wanted in connection with the abuse, the parents’ faces were on missing person posters.

One of Augustine’s relatives posted on social media that the couple was missing and that their son was “safe and sound with family.” A Facebook page set up to discuss their disappearance indicated family members were in touch with CMPD, and that Augustine and Chestnut had ties to both North Carolina and New Jersey.

Besides agencies in North Carolina and Georgia, the Port St. Lucie and Palm Beach sheriff’s departments in Florida, and the FBI office in Atlantic City, New Jersey, assisted, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police said.

Ivie called the manhunt a “huge collaborative investigation involving multiple units within CMPD and eight other law enforcement agencies.” He said the investigation “is in its early stages as far as the harm done to their child.

“The child suffered severe, life-altering brain injuries,” Ivie said. “This child’s life will not be the same.”

The child is now “in a safe place,” but Ivie declined to say where.

CMPD criticizes low bond amounts

Ivie decried what he called low bond amounts given the couple that could let them be released until further court action.

Chestnut posted her bond and was released at 11:30 a.m. Friday, Mecklenburg County jail records showed. The records don’t show her bond amount.

Augustine remained jailed Friday on a $15,000 bond, records showed.

Ivie said CMPD and he, personally, are “very disappointed” by the bond amounts, especially given the “extensive resources that law enforcement expended” and the child’s severe injuries.

“I don’t see the reason for that,” he said.