A Florida woman has been arrested after leaving her toddler in a running car for over 40 minutes. Allison Sarah Daugherty was taken into police custody after someone called the police to report seeing a toddler alone in a car that was left running. The reason? She wanted to go swimming off the pier.
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According to a witness, Daugherty left her 2-year-old in the running car, turning the radio up before she got out of the car. About 20 minutes later, the witness noticed the toddler crawling around in the car which was running with the air conditioner on.
Apparently, a group of men fishing off the pier told Daugherty to be careful of their fishing hooks. She then replied that she "wanted to get hooked" and "meet sharks," the arrest report read.
When the deputies arrived, she swam out even further, needing to be brought ashore by a rescue boat.
The waitstaff at a nearby restaurant alleged that her child ate lunch there after the incident. They also said that she and the child had been at the restaurant several times before the incident.
"We called the sheriff’s office [on Monday]; she didn’t seem drunk. She didn’t seem intoxicated," one staffer told local news affiliate NBC 2. "Something was just off."
As of last week, Daugherty remained in police custody after being charged with one count of child neglect. Her bond was set at $250, and she will have a court hearing in early October.
