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Father Left Child, 4, in Car During Job Interview, Pinellas Deputies Say

Joshua O’Connor | PInellas Sheriff | Arrests

The child was locked alone in the car for more than 30 minutes with the motor and air conditioning running, according to the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office.

TARPON SPRINGS – A man is accused of leaving his 4-year-old child locked in a car for more than 30 minutes while he was interviewing for a job, the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office said.

Joshua R. O’Connor, 30, of Tarpon Springs, was charged with one count of child neglect.

Deputies said they were called to a Clearwater residence at about 8 p.m. Thursday (Aug. 3) to investigate a complaint of a child left unattended in a vehicle. The mother of the 4-year-old boy told deputies that on Wednesday (Aug. 2), O’Conner on his cell phone. Her child answered and told his mother that he was alone and locked inside O’Conner’s vehicle while his father was inside
a business.

The boy told his mother that O’Conner’s vehicle was running and the air conditioner was on. She stayed on the phone with the child for more than 30 minutes until O’Conner’s cell phone battery died.

It took the boy’s mother several hours to locate O’Connor and get her son back, deputies said. Deputies confirmed the child was not injured.

The investigation showed that, on Wednesday (Aug. 2), O’Connor went to a job interview at State Farm Insurance Co., 1164 Belcher Road in Dunedin. During the job interview, deputies said, O’Connor locked his4-year-old son inside his vehicle and left the child unattended for more than 30 minutes with the vehicle and the air conditioning running.

Deputies arrested O’Connor at about 10:14 p.m. Thursday at his residence.

For information about the Pinellas sheriff, go to pcsoweb.com.

Pinellas Sheriff | Crime | Arrests | Child Neglect | Child Locked in Car | Tampa Bay News | TB Reporter

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