Las Vegas, NV — Sayah Deal, a 1-year old little girl from Nevada, has died after being accidentally locked in a hot car. Her father, Sidney, refused help from the police to save his daughter because he didn’t want to break the windows of his new car.Sidney, who is 27-years old, flagged down police officers and told them he accidentally left his car keys inside his running car and his daughter was trapped.
The officers offered to call a tow truck or a locksmith or to break the window but Deal declined. Instead, he borrowed a phone to call his brother.
Deal’s brother told investigators that he got a call from him about the incident. He immediately wrapped his shirt around his hand to punch out the window but Deal also stopped him. Deal asked him to call their mother instead to have her insurance company send a locksmith because he said he didn’t have enough money to fix a broken window.
Deal’s girlfriend reportedly also called the insurance company for him. She was on the line for about 23 minutes until Deal asked her to hang up because he didn’t agree with the price quoted for a tow truck.
After several minutes, Deal finally gave consent to break his window. The officers pulled out the girl, who was unresponsive and died at the scene. The cause of death is pending, but authorities believed she had been trapped in the hot car for more than an hour.
Meanwhile, Deal was arrested after being charged with one count of child abuse or neglect causing substantial bodily harm. He is being held on a $20,000 bond.