Cops: Dad Wouldn't Let Us Break Window to Save Toddler

1-year-old died in hot car
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 8, 2020 2:15 AM CDT
Cops: Dad Wouldn't Let Us Break Window to Save Toddler
Sidney Deal   (Mugshot)

A 27-year-old Nevada man is charged with refusing to allow his car windows to be broken when his 1-year-old daughter was locked inside—leading to the toddler's death. Officers say that on Monday afternoon Sidney Deal got in a fight with his girlfriend, who asked him and his daughter to leave her place. He allegedly put his daughter in the car and started it, then went back and continued arguing with his girlfriend for 15 minutes. Upon leaving again, he realized he had locked his keys inside the car; he then asked his girlfriend to call his insurance company, but told her to end the call when he didn't like the price given to send out a locksmith, the Las Vegas Sun reports.

He finally flagged down police officers after the girl had been in the car 42 minutes, police say, but he refused to let them break his windows to get her out, saying he could not afford the damage. He at one point also called his brother, who came to the scene and tried to convince him to allow him to break a window, to no avail, KTNV reports. Deal, who said his daughter was walking around the car until she laid down on the floor, insisted the air conditioning was on and she was fine. He thought she'd gone to sleep, but when authorities finally did break the window after what they estimate was more than an hour since she'd been placed in the car, she was already in rigor mortis. Deal has been charged with child abuse or neglect causing substantial bodily harm. His mother tells 8 News Now her son truly believed his daughter would be OK in the air conditioning. (More child dies in hot car stories.)

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