Inset: Emily Sabogal (Miami-Dade Corrections). Background: Body camera video of Sabogal”s arrest after she allegedly left her children alone in an Uber for two hours (Sunrise police via WPLG).
A Florida woman had no answers as to why she allegedly left her kids alone in an Uber for over two hours as she walked around town as cops searched for her.
Emily Sabogal, 32, faces charges of child neglect and unlawful child desertion, according to police in Sunrise. An Uber driver called cops after Sabogal allegedly left her kids in his car for more than two hours forcing cops to search for her. Local ABC affiliate WPLG obtained body camera footage that captured Sabogal’s arrest.
“You just left your kids with an Uber,” an officer told Sabogal. “We were all over town looking for you… You left your kids for two hours.”
Asked where she was going, Sabogal said she was going home.
“So you were just going to leave the Uber and walk home?” the officer asked.
Sabogal replied she wasn’t going to walk home but explained that her situation was “really complicated.”
“I understand that, but your No. 1 priority should be your kids,” the officer said.
The mother went on to say that she doesn’t have a car and her phone died. The kids were with her after she picked them up from karate class earlier in the night.
“My kids are everything to me,” she said.
Sabogal then stated she didn’t know what was going on.
“What’s going on is you deserted your kids for two hours,” the officer scolded. “That’s what’s going on. You deserted your kids for two hours. That’s what’s going on. That Uber driver has been sitting with your kids waiting for you to come back for the past two hours.”
As Law&Crime previously reported, an arrest report said cops responded around 11 p.m. Friday to a report about two unattended children. The Uber driver said he picked up Sabogal and her two kids earlier in the night.
Sabogal was holding a cup with what the driver believed to be alcohol, the affidavit said. She allegedly kept repeating in Spanish “he thinks I’m stupid” before she grabbed his phone and canceled the ride. She then gave him $10 and asked him to turn onto NW 108th Ave from NW 50th Street, where she asked the driver to stop, according to the driver.
The defendant got out of the car and said she’d be back in a couple of minutes, the affidavit said. Sabogal walked out of sight, thus “deserting her two children and putting them at an unreasonable risk by leaving them alone with an unknown individual,” cops wrote. The children seemed unbothered by what was transpiring and were even playful, officers noted.
After about an hour, the Uber driver called the mother and asked when she would be returning. She responded she’d be back in “12 minutes,” the affidavit said. But she never showed and she wasn’t answering his phone calls, cops said. After two hours had passed, the driver called 911.
Sabogal “showed that she had no intent on returning due to her lengthy absence,” the affidavit stated.
Cops observed the kids to be in good health, although they said they were thirsty and hungry.
“I provided them with food and water as they also expressed concern for their mother,” cops wrote.
Officers found Sabogal walking near a McDonald’s more than 2 miles away and took her into custody. She could not explain why she left her kids alone or how she arrived at McDonald’s, according to police.
Cops spoke with staff at Bob G’s Wings N Things, a local restaurant, who confirmed Sabogal was at the establishment with her kids earlier in the night. Staff told cops that the defendant “enjoyed multiple alcoholic beverages at the bar” as her children were running around unsupervised.
Sabogal smelled of alcohol and had slurred speech, police allege. She was arrested and taken to the Broward County Jail where she has since posted bond. The children were released to a family member.
The father of the children told WPLG that this wasn’t the first time Sabogal has behaved erratically. He said he was “very concerned” for the safety of his kids.
“Moving forward, she needs help. I don’t understand how someone in their right mind would do something like this,” he told the TV station. “She’s obviously not OK, and this needs to end.”
