A school bus driver was arrested after police say she left a sleeping child in the back of the bus for several hours in Miami-Dade County.
Elizabeth María Carrero, 33, walked out of county jail Friday after appearing before a judge facing one count of child neglect.
Police say last month Carrero was supposed to drop off 12 kids at school in the morning, but a 4-year-old girl fell asleep in the back and didn't get off that bus.
According to the arrest report, Carrero picked the girl up at her home at 7:30 a.m. on Sep. 19. She later transported the child and 11 other children to Henry ES Reeves K-8 Center Primary Academy.
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At this point, Carrero had not realized that the girl had fallen asleep in the back of the vehicle.
She then drove to the bank, and then to the mechanic to fix her air filter and get gas. Carrero then drove herself home and made herself breakfast.
That's when a neighbor saw the child getting off the bus drenched in sweat, the arrest report says. The neighbor then knocked on the door of the bus driver's house and dropped the girl off.
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According to the report, Carrero then called the girl's parents and asked them to come pick her up.
Following a police investigation, Carrero was arrested Thursday on charges of child neglect and released from jail after posting bail.
Miami-Dade Public Schools clarified that neither the driver nor the vehicle are part of the school district's transportation system and that it is a private operation.
