A Florida mother, allegedly intoxicated, is facing charges after reportedly leaving her children in an Uber for several hours, later offering a questionable explanation to authorities.
Emily Sabogal, aged 32, was taken into custody around 11 p.m. on February 13. Police located her at a McDonald’s in Sunrise, which was miles away from where her children were left behind.
When officers confronted Sabogal, she nonchalantly claimed her “phone died,” according to bodycam footage acquired by NBC Miami.
The search for Sabogal began after a 911 call from an Uber driver, who reported that she abandoned her children in the vehicle’s backseat.
The driver recounted that Sabogal mentioned she would be stepping out briefly but failed to return even after two hours had passed.
According to the arrest report, the driver also noted that Sabogal had been holding a cup of liquor at the time he picked up the family.
Bodycam footage showed the driver inviting a responding officer to smell a cup which he claimed contained rum.
The officer then checked on the three-year-old and four-year-old in the back of his car before going to search for their mom.
Mom of two, Emily Sabogal, was arrested after allegedly abandoning her two young children with an Uber driver
Police found Sabogal near a McDonald’s in Sunrise, Florida with her children 2.2 miles away
‘You just left your kids with an Uber and we’re all over town looking for you,’ the responding officer said.
‘My phone died,’ Sabogal replied as she insisted she had not abandoned her kids and is ‘not a criminal’.
‘I don’t know what’s going on right now,’ she added.
‘What’s going on is you deserted your kids for two hours, that’s what’s going on,’ the officer responded.
‘That Uber driver’s been sitting with your kids waiting for you to come back for the past two hours.’
Sabogal told police her situation was ‘a little bit complicated’.
‘It’s like from morning until nighttime I have to make s*** happen for all of them,’ she said.
Sabogal could not further explain what prompted her to get out of the vehicle.
The Uber driver said he called 911 after Sabogal allegedly hopped out and left her kids for two hours
Sabogal’s Uber driver (pictured) told police she left a cup containing rum in his white SUV
‘I don’t have my actual phone, I don’t have my car,’ she said. ‘I’m not in control of my situation.’
Investigators said they later learned that the mom-of-two ordered multiple drinks at a restaurant that evening with her kids in tow.
Staff alleged that Sabogal was there often, sometimes five days a week.
Sabogal’s children took karate nearby, and because she did not have a car, she called an Uber to take her family home.
The Uber driver said Sabogal told him to deviate from the route multiple times before cancelling the ride and handing the unidentified driver $10, per the police report.
Sabogal allegedly told him to stop the car and she hopped out, promising that she would be back in just a few minutes.
An hour later, the driver called Sabogal with her kids still his back seat, reported CBS.
She allegedly told him she would return in 12 minutes and hung up.
Sabogal told police that her phone had died when asked why she left her children in an Uber
When she didn’t answer his second call and hour later, the driver called the police.
Responding officers pulled up to the white SUV to find the kids in ‘good spirits,’ though they complained about being hungry and thirsty, the report said.
They eventually found Sabogal at a shopping center 2.2 miles away.
The arrest report said she had alcohol on her breath and was slurring her words.
She was charged with one count of child neglect and two counts of desertion of a child.
Sabogal was released from jail on a $3,000 bond, reported KPTV. The children were placed in the care of their father.
He told the outlet this was not Sabogal’s first time displaying ‘erratic’ behavior and he plans to file for full custody.
The Daily Mail contacted Sunrise Police and the Broward County Sheriff’s Office for comment.
