Parents arrested for child neglect after toddler found wandering by busy highway

A man and a woman were arrested for child neglect on June 24 after their toddler was discovered wandering near traffic on the US Highway 1 in Oak Hill, Florida.

The child, who was wearing an “extremely soiled” diaper and had arms covered in bug bites, was spotted at the roadside by a driver, who stopped to bring him back to safety.

A US mail worker also stopped to help, and they reported the incident to police.

Deputies from the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office arrived on the scene, and one recognized the boy from a prior child neglect call.

Bodycam footage released by the sheriff’s office shows the deputy banging on the door of the child’s home and receiving no response.

They eventually gained access to the house and found both parents, named as 28-year-old Yajaira Tirado and 25-year-old Jacob Krueger, passed out in bed. The home itself was in poor condition, police said, “with trash, dirty clothes and dirty dishes piled up, no separate kids’ room, and only one bed, which was just a mattress with no sheets.”

Tirado and Krueger were arrested and the boy was placed in the custody and care of the Florida Department of Children and Families, according to the police. Credit: Volusia County Sheriff’s Office via Storyful