Monday, Sept. 12, 2005 | 11:04 a.m.
A man who left his 18-month-old daughter in the family's hot car will not be prosecuted, District Attorney David Roger said.
He said he will not press charges against 31-year-old Tiofilo Rodriguez because the law that allows for such prosecutions requires that a child was left in a car intentionally.
"We did not find any evidence that this individual intentionally left the child in the car," Roger said. "We decided not to prosecute."
Rodriguez left Brianna Rodriguez inside his 1991 Nissan SE strapped into a car seat about two weeks ago on a day when temperatures outside reached between 100 and 103 degrees, according to a police report.
The declaration of warrant stated that Rodriguez had Brianna in the vehicle when he drove from his home, in the the 3700 block of Rochester Avenue, near Gowan Road and Pecos Road, to his brother's home about four blocks away. He told police he stayed at his brother's home about 90 minutes and did not bring Brianna inside with him, the report stated.
When he returned home, his wife, Maria Rodriguez, asked him where Brianna was, and he realized Brianna was still in the vehicle. He ran outside to get her out of the vehicle, and found Brianna was barely breathing. She was out of her car seat, lying between the floor and the seat, according to the report.
He pulled her out of the car and carried her inside the house where his wife called 911. Rodriguez performed CPR on Brianna while they waited for help to arrive. She was taken to North Vista Hospital and later transferred to Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center.
Brianna Rodriguez was since been released from the hospital and is doing well, said Lisa Teele, supervisor for Metro's Abuse and Neglect detail.
According to Metro's declaration of warrant, which sought charges of child endangerment, Maria Rodriguez told police that her husband is usually the family member who takes Brianna out of the car seat whenever she travels.
The couple's other daughter, Neyda, also told officers that when her father returned home and was asked by Maria Rodriguez where Brianna was, he replied that Brianna was left at home with her, according to the report.
"Neyda stated that her mother screamed, and (Rodriguez) ran out to the car," according to the report.
When Metro Police asked Rodriguez on the day of the incident why he left Brianna in the vehicle, he replied, "to be quite honest, I cannot even explain to myself what happened today," according to the report.
"It was just an accident, I don't even understand why," Rodriguez is quoted in the report as saying.
Rogers said that even though some people may attempt to evade prosecution by lying to investigators and telling them they accidentally left a child in a vehicle, he was confident that the authorities could determine who was telling the truth.
"There's no doubt some people will lie" but law enforcement, through its investigation, would be able to conclude whether a person deliberately left his or her child in a vehicle, he said.
The district attorney has declined to prosecute several cases involving children who were left in vehicles, including cases in which children died.
The district attorney's office did not prosecute 22-year-old Latasha Raynor, for leaving her 2-year-old daughter, Shyann, in a vehicle in 2003. Shyann, who was reportedly left inside a vehicle for about two hours, died.
Prosecutors also did not press charges against David Fish, a high school teacher who left his 7-month-old in the family's van in June 2003. The toddler was left in the vehicle for more than eight hours and died.
In both cases, the district attorney's office stated that in those cases the parents did not intentionally leave the child in the vehicle.
Most recently, the district attorney's office did not bring charges against Pablo Diaz, the father of 16-month-old Jozia Diaz Beltram, who died in July after Diaz allegedly left in an SUV for three hours with the windows rolled up.
Roger said Diaz appeared to have left the child in the vehicle accidentally.
Rogers, however, said that the district attorney's office files charges against parents or guardians when it is appropriate.
"We've been consistent. When they intentionally leave a child in a car, we prosecute," he said.
Roger's office previously charged parents with abuse and neglect for leaving their children in vehicles. In 2003, prosecutors charged Won Chong with neglect for leaving his child in a car while he went to a Starbucks to get coffee, according to news reports.
Prosecutors also charged Tina Taylor, 31, with two counts of child endangerment for leaving her children, aged 2 and 9, at a Factory 2-U store in Las Vegas for about 45 minutes in July 2004.
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