Father of drowned boy may face criminal negligence charges

by Kirk Dickey of of Grand Prairie TODAY

The father of a 5-year-old boy who drowned in Cottonwood Creek may yet face criminal negligence charges in his son’s death.

All signs point to a tragic accident in the death of Ali Albakhtari, an Arlington child, who fell into the creek at McFalls Park on June 21. The accident happened about 4:20 p.m. as he played with siblings near a drainage area.

Witness reports said that the child was skateboarding when one of the children heard him fall into the water.

The boy’s father, who was not identified by police, was about 100 yards away from where the children were playing when the incident occurred. Police said that he called the authorities when he was told what happened.

Some media outlets have reported that parkgoers searched for more than a half-hour before calling the police.

Grand Prairie police, firefighters and the Dallas Police Air One helicopter searched for Albakhtari for more than an hour before his body was found about 25 feet from where he fell into the water. He was taken to Arlington Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

The boy’s siblings, ages 7 to 11, were taken into custody by Child Protective Services, which is investigating the incident.

The Grand Prairie Police Department also is conducting an investigation into the drowning to determine if there is any criminal neglect or if any child endangerment charges should be filed.

“If nothing changes I would expect that we will send the Dallas County D.A. a grand jury referral for endangering a child; but that decision will not be made for sure until Detective Frizzell has completed his investigation,” Sgt. Alan Patton said.