Pair Arrested After Security Finds 7-Year-Old Found Alone in Car at Seminole Hard Rock Casino Garage
Broward County FL October 30 2019
A couple from Ecuador is facing charges in Broward County after authorities said they left a 7-year-old girl in a car while they were in the casino at the Seminole Hard Rock.
Sintia Pinargote, 31, and Carlos Enrique Herrera Pluas, 32, were arrested Sunday by Seminole Police on charges of child abuse without great bodily harm, Broward jail records showed.
Pinargote and Pluas appeared in court Monday, where prosecutors said the girl was found in a car inside the casino’s garage around 12:30 a.m. Prosecutors said Pinargote said she had gone inside to pick up Pluas, her boyfriend, but surveillance cameras showed her arriving at the casino with Pluas around midnight.
A Seminole Police spokesperson said the girl was left unattended in the car for about an hour. “Seminole Police and Casino Security officers follow a zero-tolerance policy for children left alone in vehicles at Seminole Casinos,” the spokesperson said in a statement.
The couple and Pinargote’s daughter were visiting from Ecuador for a Disney World trip and a cruise. The girl’s father is Enner Valencia, a famous soccer player from Ecuador who currently lives in Mexico and plays for Tigres UANL.
The Department of Children and Families took custody of the girl, and a judge said she’ll be placed in a foster home for the time being.
Pinargote and Pluas were ordered held on $5,000 bond each. Attorney information wasn’t available.
