Welcome to Arrest Stories. A thirty-four-year-old tow truck driver faces child neglect charges after allegedly towing a vehicle with a four-year-old girl inside, causing the child to fall into traffic in Sunrise, Florida. Here's what may have happened.
On Sunday, December fourteenth, surveillance video captured a tow truck quickly pulling up to a blue car parked outside Bistro Creole Restaurant on West Oakland Park Boulevard in Sunrise. The vehicle belonged to a father who had gone inside the restaurant for approximately two minutes, leaving his four-year-old daughter in the car.
According to police reports, thirty-four-year-old Sergio Jesus Suarez began towing the vehicle without checking to see if anyone was inside first. The father ran outside when he saw his car was about to be towed and frantically tried to stop the operation.
Police say the father ran to the driver's side window, banged on it and yelled multiple times that his daughter was inside the vehicle. Despite these warnings, Suarez allegedly sped away from the parking lot with the four-year-old still in the car.
During the towing process, the father observed his daughter fall out of the vehicle onto the roadway. The father immediately ran into traffic, picked up his daughter from the middle of West Oakland Park Boulevard, and moved her to safety. The father then chased after the tow truck.
Suarez later told police he checked the vehicle three times before towing it and there was no child inside. He claimed he drove away because he feared the male might become aggressive and said he received multiple phone calls during the incident.
Judge Corey Friedman addressed the case on Monday, December fifteenth, stating this one stood out because Suarez allegedly towed a vehicle without checking whether anyone was in it, and there was a child in the vehicle who then had to jump out in the middle of the road.
Police officers arrested Sergio Suarez on December fourteenth on charges of child neglect without great bodily harm. Bond was set at ten thousand dollars.
All suspects presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Do not take this report as factual, always verify facts. Thanks for watching Arrest Stories.