A woman in Miami was arrested earlier this week after she left her 3-year-old daughter in a car parked outside of a strip club for hours while she went to work inside.
Police in the Lauderhill area were alerted of a child walking around outside the Vegas Cabaret club at 2 am. When they arrived, they discovered the girl was the daughter of 23-year-old Manouchika Daniels, who worked in the club.
The club was located in the 5400 block of North University Drive, an area that local authorities state is busy.
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Officers who arrived at the scene stated the toddler was confused but was able to lead them to her mother’s car, a Toyota Corolla with a lowered back window for ventilation. The car’s engine was not running.
The Daily Mail details the officers found a car seat and toys inside the vehicle.
Daniels would approach the responding officers after 30 to 40 minutes and state that she was the mother of the child and owner of the car.
“She admitted that she just left the child there briefly while she dropped somebody off, but later in the case we realized that was not the issue,” Lt. Michael Santiago said.
Contradicting the statement of Daniels, police detectives were able to state the child was left in the car sleeping from as early as 11:00 pm.
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“I mean, she could’ve been seriously hurt,” Santiago said. “A 3-year-old is especially vulnerable in this type of situation. You have traffic flow on University Drive and it’s dark.”
According to WTVJ-Miami, the arrest report details the child as “appeared to be well cared for and in good spirits.”
The child is now in custody of Child Protective Services, while Daniels is in Broward County Jail. She has been charged with one count of child neglect and is being held without bond.