Hector Serrano (Osceola County Jail).
A Florida dad is behind bars after he allegedly kicked his 10-year-old daughter out of his car onto a busy road and ordered her to walk to her grandparents’ house miles away.
Osceola County Sheriff Marcos Lopez told Orlando Fox affiliate WOFL that residents called 911 shortly after midnight Tuesday after seeing a man later identified as 30-year-old Hector Luis Serrano pushing a 10-year-old girl from his car on U.S. 192 near Scott Boulevard, a busy tourist area not far from Disney World.
“It’s a very heavily traveled roadway,” Lopez said. “Very touristy. Pretty dangerous. We get a lot of pedestrians hit by vehicles in that area.”
Residents immediately went to the girl to make sure she was safe, Lopez said. The girl was understandably scared.
“She was distraught at the time,” Lopez told the TV station. “She was crying, she was confused. You know, she’s a 10-year-old little girl. It’s after midnight hours and it’s dark. This type of behavior is unacceptable. I don’t know if this guy ever saw the Little Red Riding Hood story. There’s wolves out there and there’s predators out there that prey on children.”
Cops quickly found Serrano and arrested him, according to Lopez. He was cooperative and allegedly told deputies that the girl’s grandparents, who have custody of her, had threatened to call cops if he didn’t return her to them.
“He said ‘You know what, why don’t you walk to your grandparents,”” Lopez said.
It was about a 20-minute walk to the grandparents’ home, according to Lopez.
“For a 10-year-old girl, it’s dangerous,” he said.
Cops arrested Serrano on a charge of child neglect without great bodily harm. They also took the girl back to her grandparents’ house.
Lopez said he hopes Serrano gets therapy in jail. He said Serrano should have dropped off his daughter at the grandparents’ or a safe place.
“You don’t just drop a child off in the middle of the road and expect her to walk home and point your finger and give direction,” Lopez said. “That’s shameful.”
Serrano is at the Osceola County Jail on a $2,500 bond.
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