A woman from Florida found herself in custody on Saturday after allegedly abandoning her 12-year-old daughter at a bar within Universal CityWalk while she went off to dance at a different venue.
According to a police affidavit, authorities were alerted to the situation at the Shoreline Bar around 10:30 p.m. when a concerned customer witnessed Amanda Thorpe making an obscene gesture toward her daughter, shouting an expletive, and leaving in a huff. This patron informed the bartender, who then notified Universal’s security team. The security team subsequently reached out to the sheriff’s office.
When deputies arrived, they found the young girl visibly distressed, crying, and sitting by herself on a bar stool. She informed them that her mother had been drinking and that another patron’s comment had upset her. Thorpe had expressed a desire to visit the Red Coconut Club, but her daughter wanted to return to their hotel, citing exhaustion.
In response, Thorpe reportedly became enraged, used an obscene gesture, swore at her daughter, and left the Shoreline Bar alone, leaving her daughter behind. Universal Security located Thorpe at the Red Coconut Club, where deputies approached her. They found her dancing alone on the dance floor, drink in hand.
Universal Security found Thorpe at the Red Coconut Club, and deputies headed to that bar to speak with her. Security pointed her out on the dance floor, dancing alone with a drink in her hand.
She told deputies that she had no idea her daughter was at the Shoreline Bar alone and thought she was with her the entire time. She later changed that story and said she thought she was at their hotel.
“Additionally, Amanda spontaneously uttered that she was confused about why she would possibly go to jail, as she had done this before,” the affidavit says.
Further, the deputy noted, she “had red, bloodshot eyes, uncontrollable swaying of the body, unbalance while walking, and the scent of fruity purities coming from her breath, which, based on my training, knowledge, and experience as a law enforcement officer, are indications of impairment from an alcoholic beverage.”
Thorpe was booked into the Orange County jail on a charge of child neglect.
WESH said the girl’s grandfather was notified of what happened and picked her up. Deputies also notified the state Department of Children and Familes.
