Police: MiamiDade woman arrested after 5yearold found alone in car, screaming for help
Dec 16, 2024
A Miami-Dade woman was arrested after her 5-year-old daughter was found alone in a car, screaming for help, outside an apartment complex, according to police.
Valerie Victoria Vincente, 33, faces charges of third-degree child neglect without great bodily harm.
According to police, a witness called authorities around 2 a.m., Monday, after hearing a child yelling, “Somebody help me!” from a vehicle parked in the 1600 block of 191st Street.
Officers arrived minutes later and found the child strapped into a car seat in a blue BMW with a partially lowered window, according to the arrest report.
The child told officers she had fallen asleep on the way home from a bonfire and woke up alone in the car, unable to unbuckle herself, the report states. She reportedly said she screamed for help until the witness, described as “a nice lady,” showed her how to open the door.
Police said that officers found Vincente in her apartment, appearing disoriented and intoxicated. Police said they noted an empty wine bottle on the car’s backseat floorboard.
Vincente was arrested and transported to the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center.
Authorities said she failed to provide necessary care and supervision for the child, who was scared and hungry when found.