SAN ANTONIO – For the second time this week in Bexar County, it appears children left alone in a car have ended up in harm’s way.
The latest incident involves two children, 3 and 5 years old, who were left alone in a car outside a Family Dollar store in Northeast Bexar County.
The Bexar County Sheriff’s Office said deputies initially responded to a call about a crash Monday on North Foster Road near Lakeview Drive.
However, when they arrived, they realized there was no crash. Instead, they said they found out a 5-year-old not only had been behind the wheel of a car but had backed the vehicle out into traffic.
Witnesses told deputies they saw the car back out of the store parking lot and onto the roadway. Witnesses then noticed a child climb out of the car in the middle of the street.
The deputies took that child, the 3-year-old, to safety.
The witnesses told deputies the car then went forward and drove into the parking lot where it hit a curb.
The witnesses realized, at that time, that the driver was a 5-year-old child, according to deputies.
Neither child was injured.
The report said deputies spoke with the children’s father, Derrick Deloach, Sr., 41, at the scene.
Deloach told the sheriff’s office that he left the car running — and the children sleeping inside the car — while he shopped for about 10 minutes.
He was arrested on charges of child abandonment/endangerment.
Child Protective Services also was called to the scene. A spokesperson for the agency confirmed Wednesday that there is an open investigation but was prevented by law from commenting further.
Meanwhile, another local parent is not facing any charges connected to an incident involving her 5-year-old daughter.
In that case, the woman told San Antonio police that she also had left her child in her car, which was running, while she knocked on the door of a relative’s apartment located on Blanco Road near Lockhill Selma Road.
She said a driver for Trinity Towing quickly picked up her car at the apartment complex and hauled it away with her daughter still inside.
The girl was later found unharmed at the company’s tow yard.
Police said they are considering criminal charges against the tow truck driver.
More related coverage on KSAT: