Daycare Worker Arrested After Toddler Escapes to Highway

Fruitland Park Police Department officers in Florida arrested a daycare worker after a toddler in her care wandered onto a four-lane highway through an unlocked gate. The incident occurred at a daycare facility in Fruitland Park.

According to bodycam footage, the child pushed through an unlocked gate at the daycare and made his way into the median of the highway. Passing motorists stopped their vehicles, retrieved the child from the roadway, and returned him to the daycare.

When officers arrived to investigate, the worker responsible for the child initially told police she did not know what had happened. She later changed her account, telling officers she had been instructed by her boss to withhold information so the daycare would not face closure.

The worker then admitted the gate had been left unlocked and that the child had gotten out while under her supervision.

Based on the investigation, officers arrested the worker on a charge of child neglect. The bodycam footage captured the exchange between officers and the worker as she changed her statement during questioning.

An arrest is not a conviction. All individuals are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law. The case remains under review by local authorities in Fruitland Park, Florida.