A 25-year-old South Florida woman is facing DUI, child-neglect and suspended-license charges after police said a 2-month-old was riding unsecured in her front passenger seat during a late-night traffic scare in Miramar. A 911 caller reportedly watched the car weave through traffic and nearly collide with an 18-wheeler.
The incident unfolded late Friday near Miramar Parkway and SW 184th Avenue, according to Local 10. Officers found the silver Ford parked with its engine running and noticed the smell of alcohol, police said, while Bennett failed field sobriety tests. Police said the infant was not secured in a child safety seat; Bennett reportedly told officers the baby had been crying, so she moved the child to the front seat, and that she accidentally dropped food on the infant.
Florida Law Could Add Serious Consequences
Florida’s DUI statute provides enhanced penalties when a person under 18 is in the vehicle, including higher fines and potential jail time if the driver is convicted, according to the Florida Senate. The state’s child-neglect law classifies willful or culpably negligent neglect without great bodily harm as a third-degree felony, according to another section of the same statute code. The allegations remain unproven, and any final penalties would be decided in court.
Florida also requires anyone transporting a child age 5 or younger to use a federally approved child-restraint device, with children through age 3 required to ride in a separate carrier or integrated child seat, according to the Florida Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. The reported front-seat placement is separate from the question of whether the child was properly restrained, but both details are likely to draw scrutiny in a case involving an infant.
Another Miramar Traffic Stop Involved Child Neglect
The arrest comes after another Miramar traffic-stop case involving a young child. In May 2025, Local 10 reported that a 3-year-old was found in a vehicle after a man fled from a traffic stop, with child neglect among the charges filed against him.
Bennett is also facing a charge of driving with a suspended license in addition to DUI and child neglect without great bodily harm. The case remains pending.
