PALM COAST, Fla. (WFLA) – A baby was found alone in a car Friday night in Palm Coast, Florida, and the sheriff’s office says the parents left the infant while they went to get drinks at a nearby bar.
Body camera video captured the moment deputies arrived after receiving a call about the unattended child. Loud music could be heard playing in the parking lot.
Deputies considered smashing the car’s windows before realizing it was unlocked with the keys in the ignition and the engine running.
As deputies began assessing the infant, a woman, later identified as Clarisse Finnegan, 28, came out of the bar and walked up to the car. She told the deputies she was the owner and that her husband, Norman Finnegan Jr., 60, was inside the bar. He was then escorted from the business and detained for questioning.
A witness said she first noticed the vehicle at the bar around 10 p.m. She recalled seeing Norman Finnegan go out to the car and look inside around 10:15 p.m., but said he then went back inside the bar.
Clarisse Finnegan told deputies she had gone inside the bar to use the restroom and left to check on the baby after she was done. She said she went back inside to see if her husband was ready to leave. She then found deputies at the car as her husband was paying his tab, she claimed.
However, authorities said the husband and wife’s statements didn’t match up — particularly when it came to details about how long Clarisse Finnegan had been inside the bar.
Witnesses confirmed to investigators that both of them had been seen at the bar drinking.
Sheriff Rick Staly of the Flagler County Sheriff’s Department, in a statement shared to Facebook, remarked that the actions of the Finnegans would never earn them a “parents of the year” award.
“It’s never acceptable to leave an infant alone inside a running vehicle — especially while inside a bar drinking,” Sheriff Staly said. “This kind of recklessness could have ended in tragedy. I want to thank the concerned citizen who reported this incident and our deputies who acted quickly to protect this innocent child.”
Norman and Clarisse Finnegan were arrested for felony child neglect without great bodily harm, a third-degree felony. Norman Finnegan was later was later released on a $2,500 bond, and his wife was released on her own recognizance.
The Florida Department of Children and Families is conducting a separate investigation into the incident.