MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – A 33-year-old woman was arrested early Monday morning after her 5-year-old daughter was heard screaming for help inside the woman’s locked BMW, authorities said.
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According to an arrest report, someone called 911 around 2 a.m. to report that a child, who was alone, was screaming for help inside a vehicle in the area of 1601 NE 19th St.
Miami-Dade police said officers responded to the area and found the witness and child waiting in the parking lot.
Police said the witness told officers that she found the child alone, strapped in her car seat.
The witness said she heard the victim screaming, “Somebody help me!” according to the report.
The arrest report states that the girl told officers which apartment she lived in and they made contact with her mother, Valerie Victoria Vincente, who appeared to be “sound (a)sleep, was not dressed, disoriented and seemed to be intoxicated.”
Police said Vincente became uncooperative and requested an attorney.
She was then taken into custody on a charge of child neglect without great bodily harm.
According to the arrest report, an officer spoke with the victim, who said she went to a bonfire with her mother and then fell asleep on their way home.
She said she woke up alone in her mom’s car and tried to unbuckle herself from her car seat, but was unable to do so.
According to the report, the girl said she then started screaming for help because she was “scared and hungry.”
Police said the witness showed the girl how to open the door and she was able to get out before officers arrived.
According to the report, the BMW had been improperly parked and an empty bottle of wine was spotted on the floorboard in the back seat.
The window on the passenger side, closest to the car seat, had been partially lowered, authorities said.
As of Monday afternoon, Vincente was being held at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center where her bond had yet to be set.