The witness, a 36-year-old resident of Flagler Beach, was traveling on State Road 100 when he saw something one does not expect, or want, to see on a road: as an older silver sedan made a U-turn ahead of him, at the intersection with Old Kings Road, the rear passenger door swung open, and a child was catapulted out and onto the pavement.
The car kept going west, according to the witness.
It was 6:47 this morning. The witness, who was on his way to work, immediately pulled over, cared for the child, and called 911. “I have him with me, the car has not come back,” the witness told the dispatcher.
“The 3-year-old just fell out of the car?” the dispatcher asked.
Audio: The 911 Call
“The back door was open, I see this kid fall out, so I got over as much as I could and went and grabbed him and am sitting with him until someone can get here, but nobody has come back,” the witness said, describing the car’s trajectory, going west. The child had a few scratches on his finger. “I think he got pretty lucky, but he’s got little scratches on his hand.” When paramedics evaluated the boy, they treated him for a cut on his right hand’s finger and scrapes on his right leg.
Sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to the scene. As they were speaking with the witness, the other car returned, seven minutes after the witness placed the call to 911, nine or 10 minutes after the child fell.
Jacob Santos, 19, was at the wheel. He had no driver’s license. The car had an expired tag since 2019. The vehicle had no insurance. Desiree Rodriguez, 26, Santos’s brother and a resident of Fort Lauderdale, was in the passenger seat. There were three other children in the back seat, ages 5, 7 and 9. The child who’d been ejected is 4. None were secured in child-car seats. None were wearing seat belts. Their mother and uncle had not realized that the 4-year-old child had been ejected until the other children started wondering aloud where he had disappeared.
There were also puppies in the back seat.
“At no time did she seem upset or remorseful at the fact that her child fell out of the vehicle while driving,” Rodriguez’s arrest report states. She refused to have the child transported to the hospital, though in such situations a concussion is possible.
There was a smell of marijuana in the car, according to the arrest report, enabling the deputies to conduct a probable cause search without a warrant. The search produced two roaches “of recently smoked marijuana” and a black bag containing about a gram of pot, plus some Xanax pills, a controlled substance, for which the vehicle occupants had no prescription.
Rodriguez told authorities she and Santos were driving from Miami to South Carolina to visit Santos’s brother. She said she’d fallen asleep and was woken up by her daughter asking where her brother was. She told authorities that at first she thought she’d forgotten him at the gas station–that he might have stepped out of the car while Santos had gone to the cashier to pay for gas. By the time they all realized the child was missing, they were already on I-95, driving north. They turned around at Palm Coast Parkway and drove back south.
Rodriguez claimed they’d bought the car and had borrowed the tag from a friend until they could get the car registered.
Santos declined to speak with deputies. Similarly, “at no time did [Santos] seem upset or remorseful about his nephew falling out of the vehicle,” the arrest report states.
The Department of Children and Families was summoned, and took the four children to a DCF office in Bunnell. Animal Control was summoned, and took the puppies to the Flagler Humane Society. Roger’s Towing was summoned, and towed the vehicle to its Bunnell yard.
Santos and Rodriguez were arrested and booked at the Flagler County jail, Rodriguez on a felony charge of child neglect and possession of a controlled substance, and Santos on charges of felony charge neglect and traffic-related misdemeanors, including driving with unrestrained children. He’s being held on $3,400 bond.
“I am glad that the child was not hurt. This could have ended very badly for the child,” Sheriff Rick Staly said in a release. “Thank you to the witness for calling us and to the deputies that quickly responded to protect the child and arresting the uncle and mother for child neglect.”
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Deb S says
I can’t even.
TheTruth says
I have to say this, how low can you go? This is the lowest of scum bags and I thought I heard it all, wrong not until this. Obviously they don’t need children nor do they need puppies, they don’t know how to care for innocent lives. Oh, and then they will get a slap on the wrist and the children will go back to their drug mother to only repeat some more irresponsible mistakes.
Hats off to the Flagler Beach citizen for stopping and call the FCSO.
Driving a car no legal license plate, no insurance, drugs in the car and don’t know when a child is thrown out of a car. How much lower can you get because this is the lowest of lowest.
Land of no turn signals says says
This all could have been avoided if there was MORE affordable housing and $15 an hour minimum wage.NOT !!!! Those poor kids don’t have a chance.
Mary says says
All 4 of those children were in terrible danger. Please don’t give these children back to these 2 or any extended family without doing a thorough check on these people and their ability to protect these children.
A.j says
Lord bless and keep the young children all over the world.
Karen A says
You got to be kidding… all those children and animals in a car ? doesn’t sound right to me. I believe a lot more checking needs to be done on these two… Thankfully the child was not harmed or worse.. and they were all taken from them.
ASF says
I am glad to hear that the children are not in the custody of these people at present. But they should not be placed into the custody of any other family members until a full potential home placement investigation is performed.
Jane Elizabeth K says
Thank God for that Good Samaritan
Dennis says
Wow,$3400 bond. Soft on crime. What the hell is wrong with Flagler judges?
Abel says
God protected them from Miami to Flagler. Now our courts need to protect them from their mother. No car seats, just baffle me. This isnt the 60’s
Kathy says
Yes, thank you sir for stopping and helping the child. You’re his guardian angel.
Pogo says
@Unemployed children — are they really trying?
https://www.google.com/search?d&q=history+of+American+child+labor
And so it goes.
Wowsers says
$340 to a bail bondsman and they walk. these people shouldn’t be allowed to keep goldfish never mind children.
Deb says
God could not stop a child being ejected from a vehicle???? God is impotent or lazy
trailer bob says
Thank you Sir for doing something about this. This little boy is very lucky that he wasn’t injured much worse. I just blows my mind how many people have young children who should not. The adults involved were more concerned with getting high than keeping an eye out for these children. Truly makes me not only sick, but really pissed off.
The old rule of an eye for an eye really doesn’t seem that wrong sighted to me anymore.
Bless her and all of the children that this mother (NOT) could care less about…Maybe she should try getting high on her children.
Sickening.
Thank you for a great job done by the Sheriffs Office. I LOVE a sheriff that works so hard to fight back at these low-lifes.
Weldon B. Ryan says
The story sounds awful! Yes to the people that see past the script. Our society can do better than it does. This is the product of America! We’re all complicit!!!
Christian says
No. God loves each of us so much that he gave us a free will to choose for ourselves how we live. God did save this child by having the car behind him not run him over , timed it just right that it happened to be a cautious wide awake driver and Good Samaritan. It didn’t happen on i95, and it happened here in Flagler, where we have a great sheriff.
This mother chose to do drugs, put her kids in danger, etc… it’s all on her.
Remember all the bad/evil in this world is directly caused by someone choosing to do the wrong thing. To choose to sin, whether it be pride, For choosing to be envious, lazy, selfish, not loving, and not good.
We should all focus on our circle, where we have a direct impact. It doesn’t take much to change the world, it just takes each of us to do the right thing. Say no to the temporary riches of the devil, and live for the eternal riches of our father.
That"s Enough says
You’re partially right Christian. Choice! While it is assumed that these people were high on pot there has not been any tests that stated so in the story. Maybe I missed something. Deputies stated that the smell of pot came from the car was coming from the car but this is what is stated by cops all the time to give them the authority to search a vehicle. That’s when they found residual of a couple of joints. The choice I see that is not taken to consideration by you is the choice to support political leaders that choose to politicize the poor and find ways to and excuses to put them in jail creating more hardship for people of color and the poor and supporting a Prison Industrial Complex. Life would be so much better with a living wage and the ability for our government to help educate and create opportunities for people. When you start life with disadvantages it is difficult to find stablility. Opinions and social beliefs give reason to punish the poor and not help them. With politicians like we have favoring the rich and senseless ( include yourself in that mix) we get desperate people living difficult lives. DeathSentance Desantis and the crew don’t give a dame about people! Condemn actions of this nature first. But choosing to find reasons to accept their shameful and SINfull policies and treatment of the disenfranched? Get your head out ur Ass. We don’t know what the hell happened why this kid fell out the car. We don’t know why they didn’t realize it. Yes it was terrible and they need to have actions taken to hold them accoutable but our job as a society is not to break up families putting those kids through the horror of a state run system and putting further strain on a financially strapped family in this Justice System.
The Geode says
It’s the government’s fault for rewarding people to have unwanted/unneeded children with welfare and entitlements. We get out “panties in a bunch” about abortion, but don’t seem to have a problem with children being born and raised by people woefully unequipped financially, mentally, or emotionally to care for a goldfish…
Christian says
I think you should read what you wrote, and think about it.
We know why the kid fell out of the car. Because 4 children under the age of 9 were sitting in an unregistered vehicle by a driver without a license with no car seats and no seatbelts.
The government doesn’t need to do anything for anyone.
You are responsible for yourself.
Poor does not equal bad, just as rich does not equal good.
There are plenty of families out there trying to make ends meet, that are not driving around with their kids falling out of cars.
We all have our battles, and have had our hardships.
It’s funny how some choose to do the right thing, work hard, no shortcuts, so that their kids or grandkids can have it better than them.
They work towards something.
Some don’t, blame everyone else but themselves, always are looking for the easy way out, shortcuts.
This is not a racial problem, poor problem, it’s a person problem.
Why do you associate people of color with poor and the ones that are in jail?
There’s plenty of white trash too…
Again, stop, making excuses.
C’mon man says
@Dennnis. The judges have to follow by the 8th amendment when it comes to granting bonds. It’s not then being soft it’s what’s they have to work with. Don’t like it? Run for political office and make a change.
Realist says
Keep bringing affordable housing to Palm Coast. I go way back in this town. I used to work for ITT. The place was paradise and I am saddened to say it is rapidly deteriorating.
That's Enough says
You should read more carefully your comment with your self rightous BS. We all don’t live in your world or your notion of right and wrong. It’s not so clear cut as you’d want everyone to believe. The lessons of Washington DC and this pandemic took the lid off the shit that goes on with this American culture. Two worlds! Make the two fish and loaf ah bread work for everyone. If you’re so christian like then your placing judgement is wrong. Ignorance is not knowing what the other person knows. It doen’t make one stupid. It makes one unknowing or unexperienced in what the other experiences! Vax up, vote for people that do good for the people and Get a soul!
Weldon B. Ryan says
Weren’t they just passing thru???
Christian says
You still don’t see it do you? There is only one right and wrong. It’s not my opinion or yours, right is right and wrong is wrong.
Very clear cut.
No grey.
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know who is wrong in this situation.
I have a soul. Don’t need to tell me to get a soul. Again, God gave me one.
Stop worrying about me, worry about yourself.
And here’s a great bit of advice, stop thinking the government is going to save you or anyone else.
That's Enough says
God loves each of us so much that he gave us a free will to choose for ourselves how we live. Remember all the bad/evil in this world is directly caused by someone choosing to do the wrong thing. To choose to sin, whether it be pride, For choosing to be envious, lazy, selfish, not loving, and not good.
You’re such a hypocrit!!!