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 tow truck driver in Florida is facing legal trouble after allegedly towing a car with a 4-year-old girl inside, which he claimed was improperly parked. Surveillance footage captures the child’s father frantically pursuing the tow truck, shouting that his daughter was inside, moments before she opened the door and “fell into the roadway,” according to law enforcement officials.
The arrest report, accessed by Law&Crime, details how Sergio Jesus Suarez, the driver, began towing the vehicle without stepping out or verifying if anyone was inside. This occurred despite the father running after the truck, banging on the window, and repeatedly shouting about the child being in the car. Suarez now faces a child neglect charge.
The girl’s father recounted to police that he was inside the Bistro Creole restaurant in Sunrise for roughly two minutes when he noticed his Honda Accord being towed. Suarez reportedly claimed that his “spotter” didn’t inform him about the child’s presence in the vehicle.
According to the police, the father described reaching his vehicle just as it was being lifted. He ran to the driver’s side of the tow truck, banging on the window and repeatedly shouting about his daughter being inside. Nevertheless, the driver accelerated and left the parking lot with the child still in the car.
The father allegedly pursued Suarez and the tow truck across a plaza and onto West Oakland Park Boulevard, all the while continuing to shout. He reported to police that he saw his daughter “fall out of the vehicle onto the roadway,” as stated in the report. The young girl was subsequently taken to the hospital with injuries to both arms and her right calf.
The report further notes that the father immediately rushed into traffic to retrieve his daughter and bring her to safety. Witness statements reportedly support the father’s account of the incident.
“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.
