Police: Woman left toddler in car while working at strip club

LAUDERHILL, Fla. — A 3-year-old girl was found wandering in a Lauderhill parking lot in the middle of the night after being left inside a car for about three hours by her mother who was working at a nearby strip club, according to police.

It was shortly before 2 a.m. Tuesday when police were called to a parking lot area on the 5400 block of North University Drive by a 911 caller reporting a child who was crying and roaming around the lot, Lt. Michael Santiago said in a news release Thursday.

The toddler appeared to be confused and there had not adult supervision.

“The child led police to a vehicle in the parking lot which was not running and had the back window cracked for ventilation,” Santiago said. There were toys and a car seat inside.

According to police, it was about 30 minutes later when Manouchika Daniels walked up to the car and identified herself as the child’s mother and the vehicle’s owner.

Investigators determined that Daniels, 23, left her daughter in the car at about 11 p.m. Monday while she worked nearby at an adult entertainment club, Vegas Cabaret at 5428 N. University Dr.

Daniels was charged with child neglect.

“I believe these are serious allegations,” Broward Judge Jackie Powell said Thursday during a first-appearance court hearing and ordered that Daniels be held on a bond of $5,000.

Child Protective Services has assumed responsibility for the child, police said.