Tow truck driver allegedly towed car with child inside, who falls out of vehicle

(SUNRISE, Fla.) -- A Florida man is charged with a felony after allegedly towing a car with a 4-year-old girl inside Sunday, who then fell out of the vehicle and onto the road.

The tow truck driver, Sergio Suarez, 34, can be seen in a video driving away from the Bistro Creole restaurant in Sunrise, Florida, where the vehicle had been parked, as the girl's father runs after him and tells him to stop.

According to the arrest report, the father told responding officers that he was inside the restaurant when the tow truck began towing his car. He said he ran outside and banged on the tow truck window to alert the driver that his daughter was inside the car but the driver ignored him and drove off, the arrest report said.

The father chased after the tow truck as it drove away, and "observed his daughter fall out of the vehicle onto the roadway," according to the arrest report, which says the father ran into traffic to retrieve her and carried her to safety. The girl suffered "superficial injuries" to her arms and right calf and was taken to a hospital for treatment, the arrest report said.

Suarez returned to the restaurant with the towed vehicle after the responding officer called the towing company, according to the arrest report. Once Suarez arrived to drop off the car, he was arrested and taken into custody.

According to the arrest report, Suarez told the responding officer that he hadn't checked the vehicle for occupants before he towed it, and that he kept driving after the father banged on his window "because he feared the male might become aggressive."

Suarez further claimed that "he received multiple phone calls" from his towing company, All-Ways Towing, telling him that there was a girl in the vehicle he was towing, but when he stopped the truck and checked the vehicle he found no one inside, the arrest report said.

Suarez's alleged actions "constituted culpable negligence and demonstrated a reckless disregard for the safety of a minor, directly resulting in injury to the child," according to the arrest report.

Suarez is charged with child neglect without great bodily harm, which is a third-degree felony in Florida, and was released on $10,000 bond, according to court records.

According to ABC affiliate station WSVN in Miami, Suarez's attorney said in court Monday that Suarez checked the vehicle three times before he towed it, but the judge noted that the video of the incident showed otherwise and that Suarez "admitted that he didn't look at the vehicle."

All-Ways Towing declined to comment when contacted by ABC News.