Florida Bar Patrons Beat Man Accused Of Leaving His Kids Alone In Car For Hours
A 28-year-old Florida father was arrested on Thursday in Ocala on suspicion of leaving his three children alone in a car for four hours while he drank in a bar. But the arrest came after several patrons at the bar allegedly dragged him outside and beat him.
Joshua Delong was arrested on three counts of child neglect after he was found beaten and bloody outside Dr. B’s Bar, Click Orlando reports.
[su_center_ad]Delong’s children– ages 5, 7 and 8 — were unharmed, police said. Authorities added that bar patrons beat Delong after learning about the incident.
According to police, a woman spotted the children in the car around 2:00 a.m. She said the kids were honking the car horn and calling for their daddy.
According to police, the woman said one of the children told her, “Daddy left us here for a long time, and he does it a lot.”
The children told police officers that they ate dinner with their father and grandmother, and wanted to go home with their dad, who instead drove to the bar while leaving them alone with the windows up and the keys still in the ignition.
When the bar’s bouncers located Delong, who admitted that the children were his, Delong attempted to drive off. But because the bouncers thought he was drunk, they stopped him from driving off.
It was at that point that a bar patron struck Delong because he was angry over the incident, police said.
According to what Delong told police, several patrons dragged him out of the bar and beat him.
Delong further claimed that his wife dropped the kids off in the car while he was at the bar, but she denied that claim, saying Delong had custody of the children for the last five days.
Delong was arrested and taken to a local hospital before being transported to jail.[su_sky_ad]
H/T: The incomparable @CarlaAkins with thanks.
fantagor August 21st, 2014 at 4:43 pm
Best. Bar beating. Ever.
Pistol-Packing August 21st, 2014 at 5:05 pm
His eyes are still open and he has his teeth. They didn’t beat him enough. Just thankfully it was at night and not during the blistering heat.
tiredoftea August 21st, 2014 at 5:19 pm
There is nothing to cheer for here. The idiot who left his kid in the car is a bad parent and should have his parental rights terminated. The bar patrons should all be arrested for assault.
That anyone cheers their actions is proof of how the right has won the battle for returning our country into a confederacy of dunces and bullies. We are further away from a nation of laws now than ever in out history.
Carla Akins August 21st, 2014 at 6:12 pm
I am not a fan of vigilante justice, but I’m not losing any sleep over this loser.
tiredoftea August 21st, 2014 at 8:56 pm
Me either. But, cheering a bunch of drunks for their sudden zeal for justice is also not in our collective best interests.
crc3 August 21st, 2014 at 5:47 pm
Two words: dumb a**
RK Johnston August 21st, 2014 at 6:29 pm
He’s just lucky that he will be saying “Good Morning, Judge” instead of “Good Morning, Lucifer” after what he just went through.
And if he thinks the bar patrons were unkind to him?
Just wait until the other inmates at the local lockup get their gloms on him!
And he tries to falsely shift blame onto his ex-wife, claiming that SHE left the kids in the van while he was getting blasted at the bar?
Looks like “Father Of The Year” material…”Father Of The Year From HELL,” that is!
–RKJ
fancypants August 21st, 2014 at 6:49 pm
now people can ask him ” how was the club soda “