Man locks his three-year-old son in car trunk for a 'social experiment' to see how the public would react to bad parenting
Following Matlak's arrest, the three-year-old child was taken away by the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services and placed in the custody of a relative
A Chicago father who was arrested and charged with endangering the life of a child after he was seen locking his three-year-old son Leo in the trunk of his car claims he did so for "a social experiment". Several witnesses spotted 28-year-old Boguslaw Matlak committing the act outside the Panera Bread at the Harlem Irving Plaza in Norridge, Cook County, though he insists he only did so to gauge the crowd's reaction.
According to NBC News, at the time, the father could be heard screaming at the boy, "You are being bad and I'm going to punish you by putting you in the trunk." In a report filed by the Norridge Police Department, it was stated that the temperature outside was 89 degrees.