Caregiver Charged with Child Neglect, Toddler Found on Street

A woman who left a 3-year-old child alone at home while she went out on Saturday night with friends, has been arrested.

Lissette Diaz, 22, was arrested early on Sunday morning, charged with one count of child neglect, Pinellas County Sheriff’s deputies said.

Investigators received a report that a small child was wondering in the 70 block of 7th Street North in Safety Harbor around 1:00 a.m. on Sunday morning.

Deputies found the 3-year-old girl who only spoke Spanish, but she was able to direct them to the residence from which she had wondered away. Deputies found no one at home, but neighbors provided a cell phone number for the woman who lived at the residence.

Deputies made contact with the woman, identified as Lissette Diaz, who said she was the child’s caregiver. Upon returning to the residence, Diaz admitted to deputies that she had left the child home alone asleep and had gone to Ybor City with friends.

Diaz was arrested and charged with one count of child neglect. She was booked into the Pinellas County Jail on $5,000 bond.