Florida mom left baby home alone to go to bar on Thanksgiving, charged with child neglect
PORT CHARLOTTE, FLORIDA: A mother has been arrested and charged after she fired a bullet at her home’s front door and then left for a bar party on Thanksgiving night, leaving her kid all alone. Police officials got to know about the incident after getting a call from an unidentified woman, who went to check Victoria Hidalgo's house and discovered “a bullet lodged in the front door.”
The informer told the cops that the 37-year-old accused had called her earlier and, “sounded as though she was under the influence of alcohol”. She also claimed that Hidalgo told her that she fired the gun, which prompted her to go to Hidalgo's house. A press release by Charlotte County Sheriff's Office stated, “Upon arrival, the woman noticed that their shared vehicle was not in its parking space. She then located the bullet in the front door. She granted deputies access to the residence, where they discovered a child left in a crib unsupervised.”
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While looking for Victoria Hidalgo, cops found the infant's mother near the intersection of Port Charlotte Blvd. and Tamiami Trail. She was seen sitting in the front passenger seat with a male identified as Robert Sampson, 49. The press release mentioned, “Victoria’s eyes were bloodshot and watery, her breath smelled of alcohol, and her speech was slurred while being questioned.”
Sampson was also questioned by the cops who told them that he did not know Hidalgo personally and had met her at the Paddy Wagon Irish Pub. He added that he was “concerned that she was going to drive in a very intoxicated condition and was helping her get home safe. He did not have any knowledge of the situation at the home.”
In the media release, Charlotte County Sheriff Bill Prummell said: “There is no excuse for an infant to be left in a home alone, nor is there a good explanation for the discharge of the firearm. It is clear that this woman’s priorities are way out of order, and I hope this experience serves as a wake-up call for her. I pray that things change and the child is properly cared for moving forward.”
Hidalgo has reportedly been taken into custody and has been pressed with child neglect without great bodily harm charge. She was being held at the Charlotte County Jail, but later released by posting a bail bond of $3,500. This comes months after a New Hampshire mother was arrested for sending her child alone to daycare in a Lyft while putting another one in a urine-soaked blanket. A statement by Manchester NH Police read, “On January 8, 2021 at approximately 6pm, Manchester Police arrested 35 y/o Stephanie Goddu and charged her with Endangerment the Welfare of a Child. Goddu was wanted in connection with two incidents involving her children. Both the condition of the infant and the unsupervised ride to day care were cause for police to charge Goddu. Since Goddu did not initially surrender, she was also charged with Resisting Arrest.”