Florida Father Tosses ‘Distraught’ and ‘Confused’ 10-Year-Old Daughter from Car on Highway During Late-Night Fight: Sheriff

A dad in Florida has been arrested after authorities say he allegedly kicked his 10-year-old daughter out of his car onto a busy road and told her to walk to her grandparents’ house, which was miles away.

Just after midnight on July 30, residents started calling 911 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, a busy tourist area not far from Disney World, Osceola County Sheriff Marcos Lopez told WOFL.

Lopez said, “It’s a very heavily traveled roadway. Very touristy. Pretty dangerous. We get a lot of pedestrians hit by vehicles in that area.”

The residents immediately went to the little girl to make sure she was safe, police said. She was understandably scared.

“She was distraught at the time,” Lopez told WOFL. “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.”

Officials said they were quickly able to find Serrano and they arrested him.

Serrano was cooperative with police, allegedly telling deputies that the girl’s grandparents, who have custody of her, had threatened to call police if he didn’t return her to them.

So, he told the little girl, “‘You know what, why don’t you walk to your grandparents,’” Lopez said.

It would have been about a 20-minute walk to the grandparents’ home, authorities said.

Lopez said, “For a 10-year-old girl, it’s dangerous.”

Serrano was charged with child neglect without great bodily harm, police said.

Deputies took the girl back to her grandparents’ house.

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Lopez said he is hoping Serrano can get the therapy he needs while in jail and he should have just dropped his daughter off at the grandparents’ house.

“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 told WOFL. “That’s shameful.”

Serrano was booked into the Osceola County Jail and was being held on a $2,500 bond.