SUNRISE, FLA. (WSVN) - Surveillance and cellphone video reveal the moment a tow truck in Sunrise sped away with a car that had its owner’s 4-year-old daughter still inside, as the desperate father ran behind it.
The driver of the tow truck, Sergio Suarez, was seen quickly lifting the car that was parked and towing it away, Sunday, apparently without checking whether there was anyone inside.
Sunrise Police detectives said the car was parked in front of the Bistro Creole Restaurant on West Oakland Park Boulevard.
Suarez posted bond on Monday after being charged with child neglect without great bodily harm.
“This is one that stuck out to me this morning. He towed a vehicle, allegedly, without checking whether or not there was anybody in the vehicle,” Broward Circuit Court Judge Corey Friedman said.
A court document states the driver and father of the young girl parked the car for and went inside the restautant for about two minutes. When he noticed his car was about to be towed, he ran outside to alert Suarez that his daughter was inside.
The surveillance video showed the very moment the white tow truck sped away with the dark colored sedan.
Within seconds, the young girl’s father tried to stop the driver, as he frantically chased the truck out of the camera’s frame.
Cellphone video from a witness shows another angle of the father chasing after the truck.
“Oh, his kid’s in there,” the witness is heard shouting.
A woman who did not want to be identified told 7News she saw it all happen.
“The [tow truck] driver is speeding, and the dad is behind, screaming, ‘My daughter is in the car, my daughter is in the car, my daughter is inside,’ and he didn’t stop,” she said.
The court document states the child in the vehicle then jumped out of the vehicle in the middle of the road.
The father told police he saw his daughter fall out of the vehicle and that he “immediately ran into traffic, picked up his daughter from the middle of West Oakland Park Boulevard, moved her to safety,” the court document states.
Suarez, 34, works for Always Towing in Pembroke Park.
Another driver who spoke with 7News said she found herself in a similar situation at the same restaurant.
“So many people have experienced the same thing out there; they have a huge problem with it,” she said. “And I ran out and said, ‘Hey, I’m right here,’ you know, so they just do a partial hookup to get it far away from you, and you’re pretty much running down the street.”
The driver said she was pregnant at the time this happened to her.
“At this point, I was seven months pregnant, right, and that did not stop him from taking the car,” she said.
After seeing footage of Sunday’s incident, she went on to say she was saddened to see how it unfolded.
“It was really sad. I mean, I’m surprised because they’re very ruthless out there. They don’t care if there’s a child out there, if you’re seven months pregnant, they’ll take your car,” she said.
Officer-worn bodycam video shows the moment a police officer returned the keys of the towed vehicle to the father and informed him Suarez had been taken into custody.
“The guy got arrested. Those are your car keys, I parked your car in a spot,” the officer said.
The father told officers his daughter would recover from the ordeal.
Meanwhile, witnesses hope something like this doesn’t happen again.
“They got to hold him accountable, that’s all; because with human beings, when we’re dealing with people, especially a little girl, the situation could’ve been worse, and I think we have to hold them accountable,” a witness said.
In court Monday, Suarez’s attorney defended his actions.
“He advised me he checked the vehicle three times before he towed it. There was no child inside. He also had a partner, whom he called the spotter. He had the spotter also look at the vehicle, and that’s why he said he doesn’t know how this came about,” the attorney said.
The judge pushed back on the assertion.
“He admitted that he didn’t look at the vehicle, and I think it’s also on surveillance,” said Friedman.
Monday night, Suarez was tight-lipped as he bonded out of jail. Friedman ordered him to avoid contact with the victim and refrain from driving until further notice.
As for the little girl, police said she suffered minor injuries to both arms and her right calf.
7News contacted the tow company multiple times to learn more about their side of the story, but they did not wish to comment.
Sunrise Police told 7News that they can’t provide information on whether the father will be facing any charges for leaving his daughter unattended, as it remains an active investigation.
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