A couple from Florida is facing charges of child neglect after allegedly abandoning a minor on the side of a highway with bags containing firearms and cash. The accused, Bradley Leon Guerrero Santos, 36, and Roseanella Mendola Borja, 35, reportedly instructed the minor to “take care of the house” before driving off. Santos is also facing charges for allowing a minor to unlawfully possess a firearm.
The incident came to light on October 1, when police received 911 calls around 6 p.m. about a suspicious individual walking along the shoulder of Interstate 75 in North Port. Upon arrival, officers found the minor, whose age and relationship to the accused have been withheld from the affidavit. Initially hesitant, the minor eventually narrated the peculiar chain of events that led to his solitary walk on the highway.
According to the minor, upon returning home from school that day, he found Santos and Borja hurriedly packing bags. The couple informed him that they were leaving for “Guam or Idaho,” a plan they had never previously discussed. They then got into a Toyota 4Runner and began their journey. The minor, who did not wish to leave, was allegedly given two bags containing two pistols, ammunition, and some cash by the couple, who then left him on the side of the highway.
The minor speculated that the couple might have been testing his “mental fortitude” by leaving him alone on the highway. Upon investigating the couple’s residence, police found it in a state of disarray, suggesting a hasty departure with no concern for personal belongings. Attempts to contact the couple were unsuccessful.
Detectives located Santos and Borja, along with their vehicle, more than four hours later at a residence in Wauchula, approximately 60 miles northeast of North Port. The affidavit does not provide any explanation for the couple’s hurried departure.
The police concluded that the couple had left the minor on the highway without any means of self-care or prior custody arrangements. Santos and Borja are currently held in the Sarasota County Jail on a $50,000 bond. Their next court appearance is scheduled for October 31.