[Arthalion]

Mr. Brown took an awful chance when he put the kid in his truck and took him back home. If the parents had already discovered the kid missing and called the police, he'd have had a heck of a time convincing them that he wasn't a kidnapper. What if the police had spotted him in the truck before he even reached the house? I'm glad it turned out well, but that was a very poor choice on his part.

"Sure. You expect us to believe that this three year old walked an entire mile to the store and nobody saw him? And you were just kindly driving him home?"

Should anyone ever stumble upon a lost kid like this, the smart thing to do is to sit the kid down and call the police from the place where the kid was found. Keep the kid safe, but let the police deal with taking him home.

[GovernmentShrinker]

Absolutely! That jumped right out at me as well. You really don’t want to get caught with a little kid in your vehicle when his parents don’t know you and have no idea the kid is with you — even at 4 in the afternoon. If you’re actually acquainted with the family, it MIGHT make sense to take the kid home in your vehicle without calling police. Even then, it’s risky.

[Stoat]

Should anyone ever stumble upon a lost kid like this, the smart thing to do is to sit the kid down and call the police from the place where the kid was found. Keep the kid safe, but let the police deal with taking him home.

Agreed 100%.  I'm particularly astonished that Mr. Brown took this particular action considering that he also has a child of a similar age (or so he says).  I would think that a parent would be particularly sensitive to how the other parents would feel as well as potential liability issues.  Hopefully the officers took him aside and advised him of the potential ramifications of his actions.