Dad Jailed After Boy, Tot Crash Car Into Canal

LEHIGH ACRES, FL — A boy’s Friday night high-speed joyride in a 1999 Toyota Camry ended with a crash, splash and arrest of his own father on child neglect charges.

The case against Martin Martinez Jr., 31, began to unfold around 6 p.m. April 7 when the Florida Highway Patrol says he gave his son permission to drive the car. While that would be more than acceptable under ordinary circumstances, troopers say there was nothing ordinary about the situation.

Martinez’s son, at only 13, was an unlicensed driver, a highway patrol report noted. Complicating matters, the teen had a tiny passenger in the car. A 2-year-old boy, also of Leigh Acres, was in the Camry as the boy drove east on Butte Street “at a high rate of speed,” the report said.

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It seems when the boy reached the intersection with Champion Avenue, he failed to stop for the sign and tried to make a turn. The boy, however, lost control of the car, ran off the road and onto a driveway. The teen then tried to steer left, but ended up in a spin that resulted in the Camry overturning several times, the report noted.

The car’s momentum didn’t end with the spin. The Camry “then rolled over the embankment of a canal and became submerged in water (the) water-filled canal.”

Troopers say the boy was able to get out of the car and did rescue the 2-year-old, as well. Both boys, who are not being identified by Patch, suffered minor injuries. They were taken to a local hospital for treatment, the report noted.

Martinez, however, found himself in jail on child neglect charges because troopers say he gave his son permission to drive the car “in the neighborhood,” the report added.

Martinez was booked into the Lee County Jail Friday night. He remained there Saturday in lieu of $5,000 bond, jail records indicate.

Booking photo courtesy of the Lee County Jail