Baby Left Inside Car While Parents Had Drinks at Bar

A Florida couple is facing felony charges after authorities say they left their infant alone in a running, unlocked car while they drank at a nearby bar.

Clarisse Finnegan, 28, and her 60-year-old husband Norman Finnegan were both arrested Friday night and charged with felony child neglect, according to the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office.

It all started around 10:20 p.m. when a concerned bystander called 911 after spotting a white Volkswagen Passat parked outside Smiles bar in Palm Coast with its lights on and engine running—and an unattended baby inside.

When deputies arrived, they found the infant improperly strapped into a car seat in the back seat of the vehicle. The car was unlocked, the key was still in the ignition, and the air conditioning was on. Fortunately, the baby appeared unharmed and was peacefully sleeping.

Bodycam footage released by the sheriff’s office showed deputies initially preparing to smash a window—until they realized the car was open.

Minutes later, Clarisse Finnegan walked out of the bar and told deputies the car was hers. She was immediately handcuffed and questioned. According to the arrest report, she said she left the baby in the car because the bar allowed smoking inside and she didn’t want to expose the child.

She claimed she was only at the bar for about ten minutes to grab money from her husband to go to CVS for baby supplies. She admitted to taking “a few sips” of a drink but insisted she was mostly there to collect cash.

Deputies then went inside and located Norman Finnegan, who was also detained. He told authorities he’d arrived at the bar around 8:30 p.m. to “get away” for a while and said their baby “gets fussy” when not at home or around him. He described Clarisse as a “new mother” who needed help.

Witnesses told a slightly different story.

The woman who called 911 said she had been at the bar since 10 p.m. and noticed the running car with headlights on. She claimed she only saw one person—an older man—briefly exit the bar, look at the car, and go back inside. She didn’t see anyone else check on the baby.

Both parents gave conflicting and inconsistent accounts of how long they were inside, how often they checked on their child, and why the baby was left alone.

After the arrests, deputies called a friend of Norman’s to take custody of the child. The Finnegans were taken to the Flagler County Detention Facility. Norman was released the next morning on a $2,500 bond, while Clarisse was released on her own recognizance.

The case is also under investigation by the Florida Department of Children and Families.

Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly didn’t hold back in a statement.

“These two will never receive parents of the year award with this behavior,” he said. “It’s never acceptable to leave an infant alone inside a running vehicle, especially while drinking in a bar. This kind of recklessness could have ended in tragedy.”

Thanks to one quick-thinking bystander and a fast police response, that tragedy was narrowly avoided.