ORLANDO, Fla. – Troopers arrested a woman in an area of Orlando known for illegal street racing early Sunday because her 2-year-old child was unsecured in the backseat, the Florida Highway Patrol said.
A trooper pulled over after spotting a white Mazda 3 illegally parked on a marked crosswalk at 1:33 a.m. Sunday near Lake Nona Boulevard and Boggy Creek Road. Stephanie Feliciano Torres, 22, was in the passenger seat, according to the arrest report.
The trooper said they saw Torres' 2-year-old child sleeping in a car seat, unsecured, in the backseat.
The male driver was issued a citation for illegally parking on a marked crosswalk. The vehicle belonged to Torres but had a different tag on it, the trooper said. She was arrested on suspicion of attaching a tag that's not assigned.
The trooper said the area is known for illegal street racing on Saturday nights and that they were patrolling the area to deter that activity. Tire marks and doughnuts are visible along Lake Nona Boulevard and the trooper said officers saw vehicles lined up side by side in a makeshift starting line indicating a race was about to happen.
Torres was arrested on suspicion of child endangerment because of her presence at a location known for illegal street racing with a 2-year-old unsecured in a child seat that also wasn't secured to the car, the trooper wrote in the arrest report.
News 6 spoke to Torres after she bonded out Monday.
She said she was not on Lake Nona Boulevard for racing, she only went to pick up her brother-in-law and couldn't leave her son at home alone.
The Department of Children and Families was also notified.
Torres was booked into the Orange County Jail on third-degree felony child abuse charges. Her bail was set at $1,000, records show.