THUNDER BAY – A man is facing a number of charges after leaving his 17-month-old son in a freezing vehicle for six hours while allegedly doing drugs.

THUNDER BAY – A man is facing a number of charges after leaving his 17-month-old son in a freezing vehicle for six hours while allegedly doing drugs.

The boy was hospitalized after suffering frostbite and being in extreme pain early Monday morning. He has since been released from hospital into the care of family members. Children’s services will also conduct an investigation

Thunder Bay Police Service officers were contacted around 9 p.m. Sunday night after the man and his son never arrived to meet with family members earlier in the day as expected.

Shortly after 2 a.m. they arrived at a Mary Street residence where the child was found to be in extreme pain and was taken to hospital in an ambulance.

The investigation found the man went to a friend’s residence and stole a laptop to buy drugs. The child was left in the vehicle for about six hours while the man allegedly did drugs.

He has been charged with child abandonment, duty of a person to provide necessities and theft under $5,000.

The man is not being named by police to protect the identity of the child.