A Florida man was arrested Wednesday morning after his truck, with a two-year-old child still inside, rolled through a fence and into a church playground.
Nathan Faust III, 29, had arrived at the Church of the Good Shepherd on Shreve Street to drop off two young children.
According to the Punta Gorda Police Department, Faust exited the vehicle with a three-year-old to walk them into the school. He left a two-year-old behind in the truck, who was reportedly restrained only by a standard seat belt rather than a car seat.
While Faust was away from the vehicle, the truck began moving forward. The unoccupied driver’s seat didn’t stop the pickup as it traveled roughly 25 yards, crossed a ditch, crashed through a fence, and finally came to a halt inside the church’s playground area.
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Police officials noted that the playground was empty at the time of the impact, preventing what could have been a much larger tragedy.
Upon seeing the crash, Faust ran to the truck and broke out a window to reach the toddler. After confirming the two-year-old was uninjured, Faust drove the damaged truck out of the playground, dropped the child off at the daycare, and fled the area.
Officers located Faust shortly after the incident. He was taken into custody and booked into the Charlotte County Jail. Faust now faces charges of Neglect of a Child without Great Bodily Harm and Leaving the Scene of a Crash Involving Property Damage.
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