Courtesy: Punta Gorda Police Department
PUNTA GORDA, Fla. - A Punta Gorda man was arrested after police say he left a 2-year-old child alone in a truck, which crashed into a church playground on Wednesday.
The backstory:
According to the Punta Gorda Police Department, Nathan Faust III, 29, of Punta Gorda, went to the Church of the Good Shepherd on Wednesday morning to drop off a two-year-old and a three-year-old at school.
Investigators said Faust got out of his truck with the three-year-old to take her into the school, leaving the two-year-old in the vehicle.
Police said the truck started moving forward with the child inside, restrained only by a seat belt.
It traveled about 25 yards, went through a ditch and a fence and ended up in the church playground area, according to PGPD.
There were no children in the playground area at the time of the crash.
Dig deeper:
Police said Faust broke out a window in the vehicle and got the two-year-old child, who was uninjured, out of the truck.
Faust then drove the truck out of the playground, returned the two-year-old to the day care, and left the scene of the crash, according to police.
Investigators said Faust was located shortly after the crash and charged with neglect of a child without great bodily harm, and leaving the scene of a crash involving property damage.
The Source: This article was written with information from the Punta Gorda Police Department via a press release.