July 4, 2011
Brandon Haught
Public Information Office

MAN ARRESTED FOR LEAVING BOY ALONE IN CAR 

A Hollywood, Florida man was arrested Sunday afternoon when it was discovered that he had left a 4-year-old boy alone in his car for at least 13 minutes while he went into a Deltona grocery store. The boy was unharmed, but was in potential danger in a warm car with the windows rolled up, the car off and the doors locked. Shelton Cover, 32, was charged with leaving a child younger than 6 unattended. The child was unharmed and turned over to his mother who was called to the scene by deputies.

A concerned citizen saw Cover get out of his vehicle in the parking lot of the Publix Shopping Center, 2783 Elkcam Blvd., at about 2:39 p.m. Cover went into the store, leaving the boy in the back seat alone. Deputies and the Deltona Fire Department were called to the scene where they saw the boy sweating and nervous but alert. It was 86 degrees with a 90 degree heat index at the time. Firefighters pried open a door, got the boy out and had him checked out by EVAC Ambulance paramedics. As this was happening, deputies noted that a man with a cart full of groceries was walking around nearby and watching what was going on. He was questioned by deputies and admitted that he was responsible for the boy. He initially explained that he had thought his wife was with the boy, but later changed his story to say that he simply wasn't aware that the boy was in the back seat at the time he went into the store. Cover was arrested and taken to the Volusia County Branch Jail in Daytona Beach without incident.