Inset: Sergio Jesus Suarez (Broward County Sheriff's Office). Background: Surveillance video showing the moment tow truck driver Sergio Jesus Suarez allegedly drove away with a car containing a 4-year-old girl as her father chased him down (WSVN).
A Florida tow truck driver is facing a criminal charge for allegedly hauling away a car that he claims was "illegally parked" with a 4-year-old girl inside. Surveillance video shows the child's father chasing after the driver and yelling that his daughter is inside before she opened a door and "fell into the roadway," cops say.
"The tow truck driver initiated the tow and drove away without exiting the vehicle or checking the towed vehicle for occupants, despite [the father] running toward the truck, yelling, and banging on the driver's window stating that a child was inside," an arrest report obtained by Law&Crime states about Sergio Jesus Suarez, who is charged with child neglect.
The girl's father told police he was in the Bistro Creole restaurant in Sunrise for "approximately" two minutes when he saw his Honda Accord being towed by Suarez, who claims his "spotter" never mentioned a child being inside, per the report.
"[The father] explained that the tow truck had already lifted his vehicle when he reached it," police allege. "He ran to the driver's side window, banged on the window, and yelled multiple times that his daughter was inside the vehicle. Despite this, the tow truck driver accelerated and left the parking lot with the child still inside the vehicle."
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The dad allegedly chased Suarez and the tow truck through a plaza and onto West Oakland Park Boulevard while continuing to yell at him. He told police that he then observed his daughter "fall out of the vehicle onto the roadway," according to the report. The girl was hospitalized with injuries to both of her arms and her right calf.
"[The father] immediately ran into traffic, picked up his daughter … and moved her to safety," the report says, citing statements made by a witness that allegedly corroborate the dad's story.
"She heard yelling and observed a tow truck pulling a black sedan while [the father] chased the truck, yelling repeatedly," the report recounts. "She saw the rear driver-side door open and a child fall out of the vehicle. She stated the tow truck was traveling at a high rate of speed at the time and continued driving eastbound after the child fell into the roadway."
The surveillance video, which was obtained by local Fox affiliate WSVN, allegedly shows Suarez initiating the tow and driving away without exiting the vehicle or checking the dad's Honda for occupants.
Police say that Suarez's failure to inspect the vehicle prior to towing it, combined with his decision to continue driving — despite being alerted that a child was inside — created a "foreseeable and substantial risk of serious bodily harm or death," which led to the charge he's facing.
"His actions constituted culpable negligence and demonstrated a reckless disregard for the safety of a minor, directly resulting in injury to the child," the arrest report states.
Suarez appeared at a bond hearing Monday night, during which a Broward County judge dressed him down for his alleged behavior.
"This is one that stuck out to me this morning," Judge Corey Friedman said, according to WSVN. "He admitted that he didn't look at the vehicle and I think it's also on surveillance."
Suarez's lawyer claimed in court that he told him he checked the father's Honda three times before he towed it. "There was no child inside," the attorney reportedly said.
Suarez was released on bond Monday and does not have his next court date scheduled yet.
