DeLand Man Arrested For Leaving Baby In Vehicle

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DeLand, FL - A DeLand man bonds out of Volusia County Jail after deputies say he left his girlfriend's 1-year-old baby alone in his car for around 5 minutes.

30-year-old Richard M. Moore posted $2,500 bond on a felony child neglect charge following his arrest Friday night at the Walmart on South Woodland Boulevard.

According to the Volusia County Sheriff's Office arrest report, a deputy patrolling the Walmart parking lot found Moore's 4-door vehicle - make and model not identified - parked near the front of the Walmart just before 9 p.m. but with the vehicle not fully inside the parking space.

The report shows the vehicle's lights were on but the doors were locked, with a passerby telling the deputy that there was a small boy inside by himself.

The deputy says he found the child in a car seat in the rear of the vehicle but didn't hear or see any response from the child when he started knocking on the vehicle doors.

Moore appeared from the store as the deputy was preparing to break through the window glass to get to the child, telling him that he had only been inside for a "brief period" searching for a missing cell phone, per the report.

Moore also told VCSO he left the sleeping child in the car because he didn't want to wake him and that he parked his car where he did so he could keep an eye on it from inside the Walmart.

Security video shows Moore driving into the parking lot at 8:40 p.m. and going inside 2 minutes later. The deputy came to Moore's vehicle 5 minutes later, according to the report.

The report also shows the baby was checked out by paramedics, found to be OK and then turned over to a family member on-scene after his mother told VCSO she had no way to get to the Walmart.

The report also noted that Moore didn't find his missing phone in the store and that the Florida Department of Children & Families has been notified.