NewsBeat
Drunk mom left ‘crying’ daughter at Universal resort bar because she wanted to go to the club, police say
A Florida woman was arrested Saturday after police say she left her 12‑year‑old daughter alone and upset at a Universal CityWalk bar and went to a nearby nightclub.
Amanda Laurel Thorpe, 33, of Lake Mary, now faces a child neglect charge after deputies were called to the CW Shoreline Bar at about 10:30 p.m. Saturday after staff and patrons reported a missing juvenile, according to the Orange County Sheriff’s Office.
When officers arrived, they found the preteen “visibly upset, crying, and sitting alone” at the bar along the three-block entertainment and shopping area next to Universal Studios Orlando, the affidavit, cited by News 6, reports.
“An unidentified patron of the bar stated something that upset Amanda. Amanda then stated that she wanted to go to the Red Coconut Club, to which [REDACTED] responded that she wanted to go back to the hotel room because she was tired,” the affidavit reportedly reads. “Amanda got livid with [REDACTED], displayed the middle finger, said, ‘(Expletive) you,’ and left the CW Shoreline Bar without [REDACTED].”
Deputies later found Thorpe by herself on the dance floor of the Red Coconut Club with an alcoholic drink in hand, the report says. When questioned, she allegedly told deputies she believed her daughter was with her the whole time, according to the report.
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Deputies, however, said Thorpe had red, bloodshot eyes and was unsteady on her feet with the smell of alcohol on her breath.
The child’s grandfather was contacted and picked up the girl, and the Department of Children and Families was notified of the incident, according to law enforcement reports.
Thorpe was granted a $2,500 bond and pleaded not guilty, according to online court records, News 6 reported.
The Independent has contacted the Orange County Sheriff’s Office and Universal for comment.