A Georgia Mom Is Charged for Leaving Children Alone In Her Car at a Florida Casino’s Garage While Playing Poker

A Broward County court orders a Georgia mom, Icese Laporsha, not to contact her three children on Tuesday. This was after a passerby found them alone in Laporsha's car in the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Hollywood's garage. The mother left her children for three and a half hours as she played poker in the casino early Monday night.

Police arrested Laporsha, a 33-year-old mom from Albany, Georgia, for neglecting her children. WPLG reported that she is facing three child neglect counts and that she was arrested after returning to her car.

Laporsha went to Florida's Broward County court last Tuesday, and one of its judges ordered her to get in contact with her children. The court placed the three children with the Florida Department of Children and Families. Police said that Laporsha left her children inside the car between 1 am, and 4 am on Monday.

The children are four, 10, and 12 years old. Laporsha parked her car in the casino's third-floor garage, and her children were still sleeping at around 3:30 am on Monday.

Even so, a passerby saw them and alerted the police, who stated that the car's engine was turned off. AccuWeather reported that Hollywood, Florida's temperature on Monday was between 82 and 91 degrees. Thus, Laporsha's decision to switch off her car's engine put her children at risk.

Before the Incident

Dr. Marieny Elena Guimera-Revelo, a Florida physician, faced two charges of neglect in April 2021 after she felt two children alone in a locked car whose engine was running. She had parked it outside the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Hollywood.

Prosecutors claimed that Guimera-Revelo was playing poker in the casino for 12 minutes, and she went back to her car after an hour. Florida Judge Tabitha Blackmon ordered the physician not to contact her kids, who were 3 and 11 years old then. But, it is uncertain how the court adjudicated her case.

Puppies Are Also Neglected in Hot Cars

Some people aren't leaving children alone unattended in their cars. A man was charged with animal abuse on the Las Vegas Strip on Wednesday after the Bellagio security officers found a three-month-old puppy that he had confined in his car.

Raul Carbajal, a 50-year-old Corona Del Mar resident, left his Siberian Husky puppy in a hot Mercedes-Benz for two hours at the casino. He had taped the puppy's mouth shut despite the car's internal temperature being almost 108 degrees, according to a KSNV report.

KLAS reported that Carbajal had parked his car on the casino garage's top floor in direct sunlight. The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (LVMPD) added that the man didn't provide food and water to the puppy. Also, he hadn't turned on the car's air conditioning.

A passerby alerted a security guard about the puppy at 3 pm Wednesday. The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported that Carbajal had rolled up the car's windows and locked its doors.

One of the casino's guards rescued the puppy, and another one offered cold water. They switched on the air conditioning to lower the car's temperature. KLAS stated that the puppy survived despite breathing heavily before the guards rescued him.

Ryan
Ryan

A sports enthusiast, Ryan helps cover sports betting news from around the country, highlighting some of the more interesting events going on in the USA.