James Currie, 37, attempted to flee after allegedly dumping his son, Mason Saldana, in the East River.
Investigators said in the complaint filed against Currie that the father carried his baby in a backpack from his Bronx apartment to the river and tossed the boy into the water near the Brooklyn Bridge.
Investigators said that Saldana, seven months old, was last seen alive on Aug. 4.
He was found on Aug. 5 on an embankment wearing only a diaper.
Tourists who found him said they called the police.
“They told my dad not to jump in the water. It [had] only been five minutes since we seen it so he jumped in the water, pulled the baby out. Started doing CPR on it for about five minutes and then the cops showed up and paramedics took it to the ambulance.”
Police officers said that Currie could face more charges following the baby’s autopsy.
A formal complaint against Currie alleged that he taunted the baby’s mother before tossing the boy into the water.
“The good news we [sic] will never see each other again,” Currie texted the baby’s mother after she asked him where Saldana was.
A source told the Post that Currie had been trying to get custody of his son.
“Sometimes you can know a person but you don’t really know him,” the source said. “I can’t believe he had that in him.”
“The circumstances of the case are essentially irrefutable proof the defendant threw his infant son into the East River and very shortly afterwards planned a trip taking three flights,” said prosecutor Shawn McMahon, “ending up literally on the other side of the world.”
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