A 35-year-old St. Petersburg woman is behind bars after deputies say she left a child inside a vehicle with no running air conditioning while she allegedly shoplifted from a nearby Target store. The child was later found extremely overheated and taken to a hospital for evaluation, according to the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office.
Valerie Coleman arrived at a Target store in St. Petersburg and went inside, leaving the child in the vehicle, according to Tampa Bay 28. A loss prevention official at the store caught Coleman shoplifting, the outlet reports, and the child was found in the vehicle while she was inside. Paramedics evaluated the child at the scene before the child was taken to a hospital for further evaluation.
The arrest report stated the feel-like temperature outside was upward of 100 degrees at the time, per the same account. Coleman was booked into the Pinellas County Jail and charged with neglect of a child and petit theft, according to the sheriff's office, and her bond was set at $15,000.
What Florida Law Says About Kids Left in Hot Cars
Florida law sets a firm line for cases like this one. Under Florida Statute § 316.6135, leaving a child under six years old unattended or unsupervised in a vehicle for more than 15 minutes is a violation of state law, and it becomes an offense regardless of time if the engine is running, the child is in distress, or the child's health is threatened. The same statute explicitly authorizes officers who spot an unattended child in a vehicle to use whatever physical force is reasonably necessary to remove and protect the minor.
Separately, Florida's child neglect statute defines the offense as a caregiver's failure to provide necessary supervision, care, or services to maintain a child's physical and mental health. Under Florida Statute § 827.03, that charge can rise to a third-degree felony punishable by up to five years in prison when no great bodily harm results. The petit theft charge Coleman also faces falls under Florida Statute § 812.014, which classifies taking property valued under $750 as a misdemeanor, carrying penalties of up to 60 days in jail for items under $100 and up to a year in jail for property valued between $100 and $749.
A Statewide Pattern of Hot Car Danger
Coleman's arrest lands amid a grim run of hot-car incidents across Florida this year. According to data tracked by the advocacy organization Kids and Car Safety, cited by FOX 13 News - Tampa Bay, Florida ranks second in the nation for total child hot-car fatalities, trailing only Texas. The same organization's data shows at least four children died inside hot vehicles across Florida in 2026 alone, with fatalities reported in Riverview, Plantation, and Hallandale Beach.
Nationally, at least 1,180 children have died from pediatric vehicular heatstroke since 1990, while more than 7,500 children have survived hot vehicle incidents with varying degrees of injury, per Kids and Car Safety data. Medical research cited by safety advocates and reported by 13News Now shows that a child's body temperature rises three to five times faster than an adult's, allowing dangerous internal temperatures to build rapidly inside an enclosed car. Kids and Car Safety data further shows that roughly 15% of pediatric vehicular heatstroke cases involve a caregiver knowingly leaving a child unattended, while about 54% occur when a caregiver unknowingly forgets a child is in the vehicle. The dossier does not specify which category applies in Coleman's case.
What Happens Next for the Family
Under Florida Department of Children and Families guidelines, officers who arrest a primary caregiver on child neglect charges are required to report the incident to the Florida Abuse Hotline, triggering a child protective investigation. It remains unresolved whether additional charges could be filed against Coleman depending on the child's medical evaluation and the final police report, and what the DCF review will determine about ongoing custody arrangements.
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