Crime
Uber Eats Driver Charged After Leaving Child in Hot Car, Forgetting Where She Parked
A quick stop for food in Florida turned into a child endangerment case after a woman allegedly forgot where she had parked her car with a toddler still inside.
NBC affiliate WFLA reported that Ly Thien Pham, 40, was arrested Sunday, July 19, in St. Petersburg after police say she left a 1-year-old boy inside a hot vehicle for nearly 30 minutes.
Pham works as an Uber Eats driver, and according to an arrest warrant, she had parked outside a St. Petersburg restaurant to pick up a delivery order. As per the outlet, when she came back out, she told police she couldn’t remember where she’d parked.
Officers eventually found the child sweating inside the car. Police said Pham had switched on her hazard lights but left the air conditioning off.
The child was rushed to the hospital for treatment, but his condition hasn’t been revealed yet.
St. Petersburg Police Department spokesperson Yolanda Fernandez stressed how seriously the department is treating the case. “These are child abuse charges,” Fernandez told WTSP.
“These are very serious charges, very serious for her to have to deal with this. Even though she claims that she didn’t mean to do it, that she thought she was just going to run in and out, pick up the food delivery and go.”
Pinellas County court records show Pham is charged with third-degree child abuse and she has not yet entered a plea.
