Man Accused Of Leaving Boys Inside Hot Car In Davie
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DAVIE (CBSMiami) – A Hollywood man was arrested after he reportedly left two children alone in a locked vehicle for more than an hour over the weekend.
Alan Luna is accused of leaving his two sons, ages 7 and 6, inside a hot car in the midday sun Saturday afternoon while Luna was inside the U-Pull-It auto salvage yard on State Road 7 in Davie.
"Luckily, one of the customers that was coming to U Pull It heard some kids crying, went over to the kids to investigate, heard the kids crying, sweating, the kids were complaining of stomach ache," said Davie Police Sgt. Mark Leone.
Police say the business made an announcement for the kids' father to come to the parking lot but no one did.
The manager called 911, paramedics arrived, rescued the kids and arrested Luna.
CBS4 News spoke with Luna's wife and the mother of his children Tuesday.
She said the children are fine and that her husband had no intention of hurting them.
In fact, she said, it was one of the boys' birthdays.
She also told us her husband wasn't in the business for nearly as long as police say.
"I have proof," Paola Almonte said in Spanish. "I was talking with him the whole time. It was like 15 minutes."
But investigators have a different opinion.
"He said he was in there for about 10-15 minutes," said Leone. "The police knew that to be untrue because they were on scene for a lot longer than that."
Luna said he's a good father and works several jobs to support his family.
He admits he left his kids in the car but says the windows were down and the kids were safe.
He says a police report that said he left the kids for an hour or more is wrong.
"First of all, that the kids were there an hour, hour and a half, two hours in the car. That's a lie," Luna said. "If it was 15 minutes, it was too much."
Luna said he believes surveillance video from the business will prove his story.
"They're saying incorrect things about me," Luna said. "There's a God up there who knows all and sees all."
He said he will never leave his kids in the car again.
First responders say it's dangerous to leave children unattended in a car even in the Florida winter and with the windows slightly cracked.
On Saturday at noon the temperature was around 80 degrees and paramedics say kids are even more unable to handle that heat than adults.
"They can't regulate their heat as well as we can therefore they get dehydrated and they have heat exhaustion and they'll have heat stroke a lot quicker than adults will," said Davie Fire Battalion Chief Robert DiFerdinando.
Luna is facing two counts of child abuse.
