ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, Fla. – An Orlando man was arrested last week after a young child was found running naked toward Interstate 4, according to the Altamonte Springs Police Department.
In an arrest report, police said the discovery happened around 11:06 p.m. on Oct. 16 near State Road 436 and the westbound I-4 entrance ramp.
At the time, an officer spotted the child running naked down the on-ramp as a man chased behind, managing to grab hold of the boy as police arrived at the scene, the report shows.
Afterward, police realized that the child appeared to be autistic and nonverbal, though a woman soon called 911 about a missing boy matching the child’s description.
According to police, it turned out that the boy had been in the backseat of 35-year-old Jeremy Rouse’s vehicle while Rouse was out delivering food for UberEats.
The woman had been in the passenger seat at the time, and she’d fallen asleep as Rouse was completing a delivery, investigators said.
But when she woke up, the boy was no longer in the vehicle, police stated.
“Jeremy appeared shocked, stating that he thought the child had been sleeping while he picked up food orders,” the report reads.
Jeremy Jaron Rouse, 35 (Seminole County Jail)
However, Rouse admitted that he continued his delivery route instead of immediately returning to search for the child so as not to “negatively affect his UberEats rating,” investigators added.
Police said the woman agreed to meet officers at a nearby Walgreens to reunite with the child, but investigators reported that Rouse delayed meeting them for nearly an hour.
“Jeremy stated that he did not accompany her because he feared being arrested due to the incident,” the report continues. “He said that if he were to be arrested, he preferred ‘to do it later.’”
Rouse was ultimately arrested and now faces two counts of child abuse without great bodily harm.
You can read the full arrest report below.
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