MIAMI BEACH, Fla. — A 7-year-old boy who said he was lost on Monday night in South Beach was alone, carrying a box of candy, and couldn’t provide his home address or a working phone number for his parents, according to police.
Miami Beach police officers reported finding the boy alone in the area of South Pointe Drive and Ocean Drive and taking him to the police station, where they later met with his parents, according to a police arrest report.
Detectives did not feel the boy, who lives in Miami Gardens, was safe, so they contacted the Florida Department of Children and Families, and a child protective investigator took custody of the boy on Tuesday, records show.
A police officer reported the boy’s 38-year-old father responded to the police station, “but quickly left,” and later during a monitored phone conversation, “appeared agitated, yelling loudly,” records show.
When the father returned to the police station, he told detectives that he had picked up his son from school at 2 p.m., picked up three other kids, took them to Miami Beach, and left them with a 50-year-old family friend so he could use the restroom, according to the police arrest report.
Records show police officers arrested the father at 1 a.m., on Tuesday, and correctional deputies booked him shortly after 3:05 a.m., at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center. He faced a charge of child neglect.
Detectives asked anyone with information about this or other cases to call Miami-Dade County Crime Stoppers at 305-471-8477 to remain anonymous.
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