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DCF takes custody of child after mother arrested on DUI charge in Miami Beach

Lorena Gonzalez-Mesa. (Miami-Dade Corrections & Rehabilitation)

MIAMI BEACH, Fla. – A 4-year-old boy was placed in the care of the Florida Department of Children and Families over the weekend after his mother was arrested in Miami Beach, authorities confirmed.

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According to an arrest report from the Miami Beach Police Department, officers were conducting a DUI checkpoint early Sunday morning in the area of Fifth Street and Meridian Avenue when they pulled over a black Hyundai Tucson after they saw a young boy in the back seat, “moving from seat to seat without any restraining device.”

Police said they smelled the strong odor of an alcoholic beverage coming from the driver, Lorena Gonzalez-Mesa, 29, of Miami, as they were speaking to her.

Officers noted that they also saw an open Budweiser beer can in the center console.

According to the report, Gonzalez-Mesa’s son was in the backseat with his grandmother and the grandmother’s boyfriend.

Police said Gonzalez-Mesa was asked to step out of the vehicle and she agreed to perform field sobriety exercises, which she failed.

After about 20 minutes, she agreed to provide a breath sample, which read, .137 BAC, authorities said. A second sample yielded a .147 BAC result, the report stated.

Gonzalez-Mesa was arrested on charges of child neglect without great bodily harm and driving under the influence.

Police said she provided some kind of admission to them, however her exact statement was redacted from the publicly released report.

According to the report, the boy was turned over to DCF as his grandmother and the grandmother’s boyfriend were deemed to be “too intoxicated to assume responsibility for the child.”

As of Monday afternoon, Gonzalez-Mesa was being held at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center on a $3,500 bond.


About the Author
Amanda Batchelor headshot

Amanda Batchelor is the Digital Executive Producer for Local10.com.

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