INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — Two adults are facing child neglect charges after witnesses claim they left three children including one infant unattended for approximately 30 minutes in a parked car at the Vero Beach Outlet Mall.
A bystander reported two small children and one infant were seen alone in a black Dodge Charger in a parking lot in the 1800 block of 94th Drive. The witness told mall security he waited by the car for approximately 10 minutes waiting on a parent to return.
A mall security officer reported the incident to law enforcement and stayed near the vehicle for an additional 20 minutes waiting on a guardian to return to the vehicle.
Police opened the Dodge Charger door and removed the children and the keys from inside, according to the arrest affidavit. The infant was crying, and his or her face was red and flushed.
Approximately two minutes later, more than 30 minutes after the first witness discovered the kids in the car, the parents returned.
Jessika Gonzalez, 25, and Bobby Ward, 26, each of the 500 block of 12th Road in Vero Beach were placed under arrest for child neglect.
Gonzalez told authorities she and Ward were gone for “a few minutes and the car was left on.” She added, “I looked out the store window.”
Store employees at Carter’s confirmed the couple was casually shopping in the store for around 30 minutes.
The arresting officer advised Ward and Gonzalez to call a relative to pick the children up, according to the arrest affidavit. Neither Ward nor Gonzalez “seem[ed] worried or concerned regarding the matter of leaving their children unattended in a vehicle,” an officer stated in the arrest report.
At the time of the arrest, Gonzalez asked the officer, “Can’t you just give me a ticket or something?” the report shows.
Gonzalez and Ward each face three counts of child neglect. Ward was released from the Indian River County Jail on $3,000 bond and Gonzalez was released on $1,500 bond.
