BOKEELIA, Fla. — A woman was arrested Monday for leaving a child alone in a car while she went swimming in the ocean, an arrest report from the Lee County Sheriff's Office explains.
Deputies first responded to a restaurant off of Main Street in Bokeelia on calls of medical assistance involving a child who was left alone in a car.
Once on scene, a detective met with a man who claimed he saw a woman, identified as 41-year-old Allison Daugherty, park the car near the pier, turn the radio all the way up, jump in the water and begin swimming around the pier.
The man reportedly didn't know at first there was a child in the car until 20 minutes later. The car was left on and the AC running – but the child, who was approximately 2 years old, was crawling throughout the car, the report explains.
After seeing this, the man immediately called 911.
While on the phone with dispatchers, the man reportedly saw Daugherty swimming farther away from the pier.
The detective on scene was able to check on the child, who didn't appear to be in any distress, according to the report.
Another 20 minutes passed with the 41-year-old being far out in the water before the Boca Grande Marine Unit arrived and brought her on their boat. She was brought all the way to shore and detained by deputies.
Another woman who spoke with deputies on scene reportedly claimed she saw Daugherty swim into the water where people were fishing. They were yelling at her that their hooks were in the water and there were also sharks around.
Even with these warnings, the woman allegedly yelled back she didn't care about the hooks and said she "wanted to get hooked." She also said she wanted to "meet sharks," the sheriff's office explains.
After gathering this information, Daugherty was arrested and is now facing a charge of child neglect for leaving a child unattended in a car for more than 15 minutes.
She was taken to the Lee County Jail.
