Christian Zaborowski, the 22-year-old father of a 4-year-old boy, faces a felony child neglect charge after authorities accused him of leaving his front door unlocked and being unaware that his son had wandered out of the apartment and onto State Road 100 after midnight Monday, where a vehicle came to a dead stop just before striking the child.
Zaborowski blamed the child, telling authorities the boy has a history of acting out when he gets in trouble, of leaving the apartment, especially when he misses his mother, who lives elsewhere. The boy told Flagler County Sheriff’s deputies he was wanting to get to his mother’s house that night.
Shortly after midnight Monday, a caller to 911 reported that he saw the child running onto State Road 100 “at the last second” as the man was driving home. He pulled into the median after coming to a sudden stop, “preventing a deadly crash,” according to Zaborowski’s arrest report, and moved the boy to safety before calling 911.
The boy had bloody scrapes and cuts on his left foot and his left ankle. He told a deputy he had come from his dad’s house, and pointed to McCormick Drive, which leads into the Tuscan Reserve and Madison Green apartment complexes off State Road 100, behind Tom Gibbs Chevrolet. The boy said he wanted to get to his mother’s house. He pointed west on State Road 100. He only referred to his mother as “mommy,” and gave two names for his dad: John and Christian. (Zaborowski’s middle name is Jay). He could not identify his father’s car beyond its color.
So deputies drove with the boy down McCormick Drive, looking for a vehicle he might recognize–which he eventually did, seeing his father’s truck parked near unit 331 at Tuscan Reserve Apartments. Numerous knocks at the door went unanswered. A neighbor helped deputies identify the child’s stepmother, a 23-year-old woman with whom deputies were able to get in contact. She was just getting off work at the nearby Wawa. She rushed over, opened the front door, and came back down with Zaborowski, who claimed he had not heard the knocks at the door because he’d been asleep. Another child was also in the house, a girl younger than 2.
Interviewed separately, the woman and Zaborowski told deputies that they had decided to leave their front door unlocked when they went to sleep since the 4-year-old boy knew how to unlock it anyway. Zaborowski said he had recently disciplined the boy over behavioral issues, which, according to the report, resulted in the boy leaving the house and running across State Road 100 while Zaborowski was asleep.
Deputies saw it differently, making Zaborowski responsible for securing the house and supervising the child. By not doing so, it led to the child running out to the highway, “where he could have been easily hit by oncoming traffic, potentially resulting in a preventable tragedy,” the report states.
Zaborowski, a foirmer member of the Matanzas High School football team, was charged with a third degree felony count of child neglect, punishable by up to five years in prison (not the likely sentence even on conviction: Zaborowski’s clean record until now means he would likely be sentenced to probation, with adjudication withheld, meaning that he would not be branded a felon, assuming that’s the only charge the State Attorney opts to prosecute.) The Department of Children and Families was contacted. It created an incident report.
Zaborowski was released hours after his booking at the county jail on his own recognizance (in other words, with no need to post bail), and with the court’s order to follow DCF directives regarding the child. Contact with the child is allowed at DCF’s discretion, pending the disposition of the case.
Katie says
Jesus! This story is sad but I’m so happy that the child is doing okay. I don’t understand why they didn’t lock the door, kids do wander outside. I’m sure the parents feel so bad about this, there are coverings you can get for door knobs where the child cannot turn the handles and also latches and bars for sliding doors.
Atwp says
Thank God some drivers are paying attention to what they are doing. A four year old up that time in the morning.
Bob says
So basically if you live in Flagler County, any parent who has a young child capable of opening a door (locked or not) is not allowed to fall asleep at night. Got it. Christian, I hope you read this. I don’t know you but I’m glad your child is OK. Though not required by law, use a door latch if you have a little runner. On your way to Home Depot stop by an attorney’s office and sue the FCSO for false arrest.
Greg says
I think this is really over the top on charges. I wonder if it would be OK to chain the child to the bed? Dad can’t be awake all night in case the child decides to leave. Please advise on how to prevent this from happening again. Just really thankful the child was not hurt.
Wkh says
I wonder if the boy was referring to his stepmother as “mommy” or his biological mother. Either way, dude should have locked his door regardless of the fact his son knew how to unlock it. A front door lock is meant to keep unwanted people out.
Skibum says
Wow, poor decision making by adults on so many levels. 1) Even if you have no young children living with you, deciding it is a good idea while living in an apartment complex to go to sleep at night and leave your apartment door UNLOCKED is stupid! 2) Knowledge from prior “behavioral issues” and the fact that the 4-year old knows how to unlock the front door should have prompted the irresponsible adults to go to their local home improvement store to buy an inexpensive hook and eyelet to place near the top of the door where the child could not reach it, or similar safety type of lock to prevent a toddler from opening the door and leaving in the middle of the night like he did. 3) For the toddler’s father to try to redirect responsibility for what happened from himself and instead put the blame on the 4-year old child who was nearly killed by a car late at night, that in itself shows the sheriffs deputies that they are dealing with someone who is lacking in maturity and not responsible enough to be in charge of supervising a 4-year old and a 2-year old, so it was wise to refer this case to DCF. Whether or not this dumb father is ultimately convicted of a crime, it better be a profound wake-up call to him because little ones can and will do things that are crazy and often dangerous without understanding that they are endangering their very lives in many cases. It is the ADULTS, the PARENTS, who are supposed to know better and protect their young children from the many, many things that youngsters would otherwise do to their own peril. I hope this idiot learns a valuable lesson and is not one of the so-called “parents who only have children because they have the proper plumbing”, which we already have too many of in our society.
FlaglerBear says
This is not a “false arrest”; it is in fact a very valid one and I doubt he would have a leg to
stand on if he did try to sue the Sheriff’s Department. Perhaps if he had a different attitude, he might have gotten a break, but as the article indicated, he blamed his 4 year old for his own stupidity, failing to properly secure his front door. Luckily for all, the driver who saw the kid wasn’t drunk, or the outcome might have been vastly different. As you probably know or should know, at that time of the morning, many people on the road have been drinking. I’m almost fairly certain the defendant will probably be deferred to some type of counseling since he supposedly has a clean record, but if he’s smart, he’ll make sure that front door is well secured from now on instead of not bothering to lock it at all…another dumb move!
Mary Fusco says
You can put a dead bolt lock on that requires a key to open. You can put a simple hook and eye at the top of the door. If that is not permitted, you can purchase a simple door alarm that can be installed with double sided tape that screeches when the door is opened. I had one and it can be turned on and off with a switch so that it will not alarm all day. The fact that this child would go to such lengths to find his “mommy” speaks volumes. Shame on all of these so called adults.
Bill says
All part of palm coast fantastic growth of the community
Never cease to amaze me says
So let me try to understand this – the father is blaming the 4 year old because he “acts out” when disciplined and since he can open the door anyway, just leave it open so if he wants to leave he can. Does anyone else see the problem here?
ASF says
I hope they did a TOX screen on dad.
Wow says
This family needs help, not arrest. That solves nothing.
Concerned Citizen says
Sorry to break it to you, but this guy was a member of the H.S football team several years back so he’s clearly not a new transplant here. Redirect your anger elsewhere. If you’re mad about the growth, attend a few county commission meetings to see who’s getting their palms greased for all of the new development.