A Gainesville man briefly locked his 1-year-old and 2-year-old children in his house on Sunday.
Jorge Quinones, 29, was arrested on charges of child neglect Sunday around 9:15 p.m.
Quinones passed the mother of their children on his bike after he left the house and told her to get “her kids,” according to an Alachua County Sheriff’s Office arrest report.
When she got to the house, the doors were locked and she had no way of getting in. She called the police.
After Dep. Barrett Boyette, an Alachua County Sheriff’s officer, got to the house, he and the childrens’ mother heard the 1-year-old through the door, but not the 2-year-old.
Worried about the children, Officer Boyette broke the door down and found both children unharmed.
When inside, according to the report, the officer found an open can of beer and a cigarette lighter where the children could reach them.
Another officer found Quinones biking on Archer Road.
According to the police report, after Boyette read Quinones his Miranda rights, Quinones refused to speak to him and appeared “completely unconcerned with the situation,” but he did keep repeating, “This is bullshit.”
The mother said her husband left the children alone before, but she didn’t report it.
Contact Ben Brasch at bbrasch@alligator.org
