OSCEOLA COUNTY, Fla. — A Central Florida man was arrested Tuesday, accused of leaving his 10-year-old daughter alone on the side of a busy roadway in the middle of the night.
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According to a report from the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office, a deputy responded to the area of Scott Blvd. and West Irlo Bronson Memorial Highway in Kissimmee shortly before 1 a.m. Tuesday for reports of an unattended child.
The deputy arrived to find the “visibly distraught” girl actively crying.
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In their report, the deputy wrote that the girl was “very frantic” and immediately ran up to their patrol car.
Deputies say the girl told them she was walking to her grandparents’ house after her father, later identified as 30-year-old Hector Serrano, Jr., took her cell phone and dropped her off in the area of Scott Blvd. and Cane Island Loop.
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The report says the deputy next began questioning witnesses after the girl became increasingly distraught and was no longer able to provide additional information.
According to the sheriff’s office, one witness described seeing Serrano “throw” the girl and her belongings out of his truck near Scott Blvd. and Cane Island Loop before speeding away towards Irlo Bronson Memorial Highway.
The witness said some of the items Serrano threw even hit the girl and that she was visibly upset and crying when he left her.
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According to the sheriff’s office, the witness said they then proceeded to follow Serrano’s Toyota Tundra westbound down Irlo Bronson as he ran multiple red lights and nearly collided with another driver on the road.
The witness told deputies they never lost sight of Serrano’s truck until he was finally pulled over near West Irlo Bronson and Old Lake Wilson Road.
A second witness also claimed to see Serrano throwing the girl from his truck, along with what appeared to be her toys and clothing, before fleeing the scene as she cried.
The report says Serrano told the deputies who stopped him that he had been in an argument with the girl’s grandparents, with whom she lived, about visitation. He claimed he began receiving text messages from them at around midnight, threatening to involve law enforcement if he didn’t return the girl home.
According to the sheriff’s office, Serrano claimed he left his daughter where he did “out of fear” and expected her to walk the rest of the way home. When mapped out, deputies noted that walk would have taken approximately 21 minutes.
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Serrano was ultimately arrested and charged with child neglect for leaving his daughter “unsupervised at an unreasonable hour in an unfamiliar area...with no intent to return.”
He was taken to the Osceola County jail and remains there on $5,000 bond.
Other responding deputies drove the girl home once they verified that she was not injured.
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