'A human piece of garbage': Florida sheriff slams father accused of leaving toddler in hot car to die
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VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) — Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood slammed a father who is accused of leaving his 18-month-old son to die in a hot car.

Volusia County deputies worked with the Ormond Beach Police Department to arrest Scott Allen Gardner, 33.

Investigators said Gardner left his son, Sebastian, in a hot truck for more than three hours on June 6, while he got a haircut and went drinking in Hanky Panky’s Lounge.

During that time, Sebastian’s body temperature reached 111 degrees.

(Photo of Sebastian from NBC affiliate WESH)

According to investigators, Gardner found his son dead in the car after he left the bar.

Instead of calling 911, deputies said Gardner drove to his mother’s house and then called for help, but by that time, Sebastian had been dead for about an hour or two.

The sheriff said Gardner went out for more drinks with his mother at the lounge following the toddler’s death.

Gardner reportedly gave multiple false accounts of what happened to authorities.

“This father is a human piece of garbage, and he’s a lying sack of (expletive). He’s exactly where he belongs to be: behind bars,” Chitwood said in a news conference on Friday.

Gardner was charged with aggravated child abuse and aggravated manslaughter.

“My hope for him is every night when he closes his eyes, and every morning when he opens his eyes, his son Sebastian sits there and says, ‘Dad, why did you do this to me?'” Chitwood said. “Because there is no reason for this little boy to be dead.”

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