Mom leaves baby in running, unlocked car as she meets husband at bar, FL cops say

Miami Herald

6 days ago

A mom left her baby in an unlocked car with the keys in the ignition outside a bar while she sat with her husband inside, according to Florida authorities.
The 28-year-old mom and 60-year-old dad are now charged with felony child neglect without great bodily harm, the Flagler County Sheriff's Office said in a news release July 21.
McClatchy News is not identifying the parents to protect the identity of their child.
The evening of July 18, dispatch got a 911 text alerting law enforcement to a child left unattended in a car outside a bar in Palm Coast, deputies wrote in an arrest affidavit.
When deputies arrived, a witness told them she got to the bar at around 10 p.m., or 20 minutes before deputies arrived, and saw a white Volkswagen Passat with its lights and engine on, according to investigators.
Deputies said they opened the unlocked car, which was running with the air conditioning on, and found a sleeping baby boy 'improperly secured in a car seat.'
About 10 minutes after law enforcement arrived, the mom came out of the bar, and deputies asked her if the Passat was hers, according to the affidavit.
Once she confirmed it was, deputies placed her in handcuffs and brought her husband out from the bar as well, investigators said.
The dad told investigators he initially went to the bar in Palm Coast to 'get away' from home for a bit, then his wife followed him there because she said she needed money to buy items for their child, deputies said.
The mom said she headed inside, used the bathroom and returned to check on the child before going back in the bar to see if her husband was ready to leave so she could bring him home, according to deputies.
A commander spoke to the bartender, who said the couple had been drinking at the bar, but the woman only had a little bit and wasn't there long, according to the affidavit.
The bartender made her a drink, but she only took a few sips because she didn't like it, investigators said.
The mom told investigators she was only at the bar for 10 minutes, but deputies said she came out of the bar roughly 16 minutes after the 911 report came in about the unattended child.
The couple's timeline also contradicted the witness report about how long the child was in the car, deputies said.
While her husband was settling up, she said she went outside to check on her baby again, and that's when she ran into law enforcement, according to the report.
The dad said once he realized his baby was alone in the car, he started getting ready to pay and leave, then law enforcement came in and brought him out, deputies said.
A friend of the husband came and picked up the child while the couple was taken to jail, according to the sheriff's office.
'It's never acceptable to leave an infant alone inside a running vehicle — especially while inside a bar drinking,' Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly said. 'This kind of recklessness could have ended in tragedy. I want to thank the concerned citizen who reported this incident and our deputies who acted quickly to protect this innocent child.'
Palm Coast in on Florida's Atlantic Coast, about a 60-mile drive south from Jacksonville.