Florida mom abandoned toddler son in running car to go swimming and ‘meet sharks’: cops
A Florida mom has been charged with child neglect for allegedly abandoning her 2-year-old son in a still-running vehicle to go swimming for nearly 45 minutes — while saying she wanted to “meet sharks.”
Allison Sarah Daugherty, 41, was taken into custody when authorities were alerted by a witness who saw her allegedly leave her son in a car while she went swimming off Bokeelia Fishing Pier around 10:30 a.m. Monday, the Lee County Sheriff’s Office told The Post.
According to the witness, Daugherty — who is listed as transient on the arrest record — parked her 2007 Honda Pilot near the pier and turned up the radio before jumping into the water, the incident write-up stated.
Twenty minutes later, the passerby noticed the small boy crawling around the vehicle, which was left running with the air conditioning on, they added.
A group fishing off the pier also reportedly yelled warnings to avoid their hooks — just for Daugherty to say “she wanted to get hooked” and “would want to meet sharks,” the report said, noting that sharks are often seen in the waters.
When deputies arrived, she reportedly swam out even farther before she was brought ashore in a rescue boat.
By then, Daugherty had left the toddler alone in the car for about 44 minutes, FOX 4 said.
Footage showed Daugherty in a black bikini top and matching briefs as she was arrested. She was booked by the Lee County Sheriff’s Office that afternoon, FOX 4 said.
Her son — who staffers at the nearby Cap’tn Con’s restaurant said was still in diapers — reportedly ate lunch at the eatery before being picked up by a relative, they told NBC 2.
“He was a sweet little boy, very well-behaved,” staffer Jenny Wray recalled.
“He sat and ate and watched TV like oblivious to what was going on, thank God.”
Daugherty and her son had visited the restaurant at least three times in the last week prior to her arrest, Wray added.
Each time, she noted, the mother was behaving oddly.
“We called the sheriff’s office [on Monday]; she didn’t seem drunk. She didn’t seem intoxicated,” she alleged. “Something was just off.”
As of Wednesday morning, Daugherty remains in custody on one charge of child neglect, or leaving an unattended child in a motor vehicle for an excess of 15 minutes, the arrest record shows.
Her bond has been set at $250, and she is due at a court hearing on Oct. 2.
