A West Palm Beach father was taken to jail after leaving his toddler in a hot car on a day when temperatures hovered at around 92 degrees.
Raul Fernandez was charged with two counts of child neglect after police said he left his 3-year-old daughter in a hot car for more than 30 minutes.
Bodycam footage shows his exchange with police, where he tells them he’s happy his little girl is fine after explaining he’s going through a migratory process of getting his green card.
“That witness who saw the child, said she parked the car, saw motion in the back of the SUV, and then heard a child crying and then realized it was a 3-year-old girl inside," said Mike Jachles with the West Palm Beach Police Department
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On Saturday at 1:30 in the afternoon in the parking lot of a Sam’s Club in West Palm Beach, police said a customer told workers they thought a child had been left inside a car.
"They went over to the car and by the time they got to the car, good Samaritans had already opened the unlocked car and removed the child," Jachles said.
Police released surveillance video showing Fernandez walking into the wholesale store. Inside the store, police said you can see him on the phone.
"He shops, he checks out, you see him leave the store," Jachles said. "You see him going into the liquor store for several minutes more."
When he goes outside, he realizes there is quite a commotion.
"He said that he just forgot that she was with him," Jachles said.
Police say the little girl was inside that car for exactly 31 minutes.
“The temperatures inside of a closed vehicle can reach deadly levels in as little as ten minutes," meteorologist Robert Molleda said.
The little girl was checked out by medics. As for dad, he was booked into jail and is now out on bond.
