(VIA WKMG) In the Northern part of Florida, one bar’s patrons decided to exact some vigilante justice on a father of three who not only left the children locked in the car for hours, but then attempted to drunk-drive away, once attention was called to his actions. Fortunately for the children they were unharmed in this case, but the results could have been much more tragic if it had not been for the wandering eye of a passerby,
One patron of the bar was outside around 2AM, when she noticed the three children, ages 5, 7 and 8, were inside of the car. The patron, Heather Weiss, had her eye draw to the vehicle after the children inside began honking the horn loudly and shouting for their father. Weiss, who’s boyfriend is the bouncer at the bar, notified management about the children and they set out to find the culprit. It was later found that a 28-year-old father, Joshua Delong, was to blame. After admitting the children were his, he attempted to flee inside of his vehicle, but was restrained by security, since it was believed that he was intoxicated. At this point other bar patrons who were upset about the entire episode which was occurring struck Mr. Delong as he was being restrained outside of the bar.
Mr. Delong was the 28-year-old father who was found to have left his children in the car as he drank inside of a local bar.
Once police arrived Joshua Delong was taken into custody, while no other patrons were taken into custody. To top off the entire story, Mr. Delong claimed that his wife was taking care of the children, but dropped them off in the vehicle while he was inside of the bar drinking. Upon investigation, police found that Mr. Delong had custody of the children all five days prior to the incident and that the children’s mother was not at fault.
For the passerby who found the children this was obviously a scary situation. Anytime you see children in a vehicle unattended it is vital to get help as quickly as possible. It is just a matter of minutes that could make the difference in saving that child’s life. Ms. Weiss did note that the children were both sweaty and crying while inside of the locked vehicle and also noted that the car’s keys were in the ignition. Despite Mr. Delong’s claim that he was “dragged out of the bar and beaten” it seems that he will be facing serious charges for his actions. More and more stories have been popping up of children being locked in cars and it is extremely lucky that we have good samaritans like Ms. Weiss around to assist those children who can assist themselves.