James Fidele: Florida man arrested as son, 2, dies after he 'abandoned' him in car for nearly 5 hours
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PORT ST LUCIE, FLORIDA: Florida police have said that a toddler, who was reportedly abandoned in a car by his father for five hours, has died. The child's father has been arrested by the police in connection with his death. He is the one who made the call to 911 after realizing the mistake.
Police in Port St Lucie, north of West Palm Beach, responded to a report that a two-year-old had been left inside a parked car on the 1700 block of Southeast Aires Lane for several hours. At about 1.17 pm on Monday, the child's father, James Fidele, 37, called 911 after realizing he had forgotten to take the child out of the vehicle that morning, the police report said.
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The boy was found unconscious in the car with eyes open
Fidele reportedly informed authorities that after dropping his other four children off at school, he returned home at around 8.15 am to start working from his office there, according to WPBF. Yet, Fidele did not realize he had left the toddler in the back seat of the SUV until about 1.15 pm when he went to retrieve a parcel from it. When he saw the toddler, he was apparently unconscious with his eyes open.
He showed 'no urgency' in removing the child from car
Following the 911 call from the father, the officers started life-saving procedures and helped him transport the toddler to a nearby hospital. However, the child was pronounced dead at the hospital. The presence of a rear-seat reminder safety alarm in the SUV was later confirmed by police, according to a search warrant. According to the authorities, Fidele displayed "no urgency" in removing his child from the SUV as shown on a nearby Ring camera footage from a neighbor's house.
Fidele was arrested and charged with leaving a child unattended in a motor vehicle and causing great bodily harm. "This is a very unfortunate and tragic incident and our thoughts and prayers are with the victim's family during this difficult time," Port St Lucie Police Department (PSLPD) said in a news release.
'This can happen absolutely to anyone'
"This can happen absolutely to anyone," Janette Fennell, president of Kids and Car Safety said. She added, "And the biggest mistake you can think of is that it can't happen to you. If you place something in the backseat like your handbag, cellphone, or your computer when you are leaving in the morning with your child and when you arrive at the destination will cause you to open the back door. That's look before you lock." As per the nonprofit, there have been over 1,000 death of children in hot cars nationwide since 1990.