Victoria Hidalgo Port Charlotte Florida mother charged with child neglect after leaving her two year old child home alone to go drinking on Thanksgiving night.
A Florida woman is alleged to have fired a gun into her front door from inside her home before making her way to a local bar while leaving her ‘disabled’ infant child home alone on Thanksgiving night, officials said.
Police responded to the home of Victoria Hidalgo, 37, after they received a call from a woman who said Hidalgo had ‘sounded as though she was under the influence of alcohol’, according to the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office.
When the ‘concerned’ woman (since identified as Hidalgo’s sister) arrived at Hidalgo’s Port Charlotte apartment to check on her she found a bullet lodged in the front door and noticed the vehicle that the two shared was not in the driveway.
She let police officers inside the house, only to discover Hidalgo’s unattended two year old son in his crib, officials said.
The baby was left in the care of a family member while police attempted to track down Hidalgo NBC2 reported.
A great mother
The mother was found in the passenger seat of a vehicle that had been pulled over, driven by 49-year-old Robert Sampson. Her ‘eyes were bloodshot and watery, her breath smelled of alcohol, and her speech was slurred while being questioned,’ police said.
Sampson told police that he did not know Hidalgo and had just met her at the Paddy Wagon Irish Pub. He said she was going to try to drive home while intoxicated and he was trying to get her home safely. He had no knowledge of the situation at her home, cops said.
The incident led to neighbors saying they were shocked, as they said Hidalgo had always appeared to be a great mother according to WinkNews.
Offered, neighbor, Lauren Schmidt, ‘It shocks me that she left the baby alone because she’s always there with the baby.’
Schmidt said she noticed Hidalgo was very upset just days before Thanksgiving and invited her over for dinner. ‘Totally stressed out, yeah, she was very upset,’ said Schmidt. ‘You know, she has a disabled son. You know, the poor child has gone through 10 operations and he’s two.’
‘There is no excuse for an infant to be left in a home alone, nor is there a good explanation for the discharge of the firearm,’ Charlotte County Sheriff Bill Prummell said in a press release. ‘It is clear that this woman’s priorities are way out of order, and I hope this experience serves as a wake-up call for her. I pray that things change and the child is properly cared for moving forward.’
Hidalgo was taken into custody on a charge of child neglect without great bodily harm. She was booked at the Charlotte County Jail and is currently released on a $3,500 bond.
Deputies say Hidalgo’s baby is now in the care of another family member.
