A 33-year-old Ocala man was arrested early Monday after deputies say he left two young children unattended in a running vehicle for more than two hours while making a late-night food delivery in Dunnellon.
According to an arrest affidavit from the Marion County Sheriff’s Office, deputies were dispatched at 12:45 a.m. March 2 to the 8700 block of Southwest 156th Place after a 911 caller reported a vehicle sitting in the middle of the roadway with its hazard and interior lights on.
Cpl. Michael Bowling reported finding a 2015 silver Toyota Corolla stopped in the road, running with the keys in the ignition. Inside were two young children in the back seat. A Glock 19 Gen 5 handgun, loaded with hollow-point ammunition, was in plain view on the driver’s side floorboard, according to the affidavit.
The children told deputies that Jean Pierre Malave Torres had left about an hour earlier to deliver Taco Bell on foot for DoorDash, leaving them in the car with the engine running for air conditioning. The delivery receipt reportedly showed the food was delivered at 11:45 p.m. The 911 call came in at 12:45 a.m., and deputies noted it was after 2:30 a.m. by the time Torres returned to the vehicle.
Deputies say Torres told them he stopped in the roadway because he feared getting stuck on a sandy road and believed the customer’s address was about five minutes away by car. He said he became lost after completing the delivery and did not call 911 because he did not want to get in trouble.
Investigators also noted the firearm was not secured in a lockbox or container and was accessible to the children inside the vehicle.
Torres was charged with leaving a child unattended in a motor vehicle for more than 15 minutes and unsafe storage of a firearm, both misdemeanors. He was issued a citation and booked into the Marion County Jail. Bond was set at $500 on the firearm charge and $250 on the unattended child charge, according to the affidavit.
