4-year-old jumped out of vehicle being towed by driver as father chased vehicle, authorities say

SUNRISE, Fla. (WSVN) – A Florida man has bonded out of jail after police said he towed a car with a 4-year-old girl inside Sunday.

Sergio Suarez walked out of jail Monday night, still in his uniform, after he was charged with towing the car with the child within it outside the Bistro Creole Restaurant in Sunrise.

Broward County Judge Corey Friedman said Suarez towed the vehicle without checking to see if anyone was in it first.

“There was a child in the vehicle who then had to jump out of the vehicle in the middle of the road,” he said.

According to court documents, the girl’s father parked his car for about two minutes before running back outside when he saw he was about to get towed. He then ran to the driver’s side window, banged on it and yelled multiple times that his daughter was inside the vehicle.

The father then said Suarez sped away, leaving the parking lot with the 4-year-old still in the car.

The report said the dad then chased the tow truck down the main road, yelling at it the whole way.

When he saw his little girl fall out of the car and onto the road, he said he “immediately ran into traffic, picked up his daughter from the middle of West Oakland Park Boulevard, and moved her to safety.”

Authorities said Suarez kept going.

Officers called his employer, All-Ways Towing, to get him to come back.

They said he did come back, but dropped the car away from the two and tried to leave again.

Suarez was charged with one count of neglect of a child without great bodily harm.

In court, a defense attorney said this recounting was not how it played out.

“He advised me he checked the vehicle three times before he towed it, and there was no child,” the lawyer said. “He also had a partner, whom he calls a spotter. He had the spotter also look at the vehicle to make sure. So that is why he doesn’t know how it came about.”

The girl reportedly had minor injuries to both arms and her right calf.

The towing company has not yet responded to questions about the incident.