There was no evidence that a Tampa-area firefighter deliberately left his toddler son in a hot pickup truck for eight hours, but the circumstances amount to criminal neglect, a sheriff told a Florida newspaper. According to the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office, Whitaker left Lawson in his pickup truck for eight hours Friday instead of taking the boy to day care. Friends and neighbors questioned the decision to charge Whitaker, who the sheriff's office said was a firefighter for Hillsborough County Fire Rescue. Whitaker strapped Lawson into his car seat in the truck Friday morning to take his 5-year-old sister to school, authorities said. The boy was discovered when Whitaker returned home and began unloading groceries around 4:30 p.m., according to the sheriff's office.

Source: Fox News September 11, 2016 21:22 UTC