Dad Charged For Abandoning His 3 Young Kids At A Park To Ride Roller Coasters: 'One Of The Rides He Rode Twice'
A Seneca County father is accused of endangering his three young daughters while leaving them unattended to ride roller coasters.
According to 'Law & Crime,' Anthony Gallina and his four daughters visited Cedar Point.
Three of the young children were too short to ride, so Gallina and the elder child, however, still went on the roller coaster, leaving the youngest three unattended.
A woman saw one of the children unattended playing in the dirt near one of the coasters.
"The female located a wagon in front of the Corkscrew with another small child that was unattended," the incident report reads. "She advised that she waited for almost 20 minutes before the father of the child appeared." Other reports suggest that he "left unattended multiple different times throughout the day."
The incident report alleged the father left his eight-year-old daughter to watch his two and four year old daughters. "He advised that he was in line for only a couple of minutes and then returned to his children," the report added. "It should be noted that the ride was shut down during this time for at least 20 minutes while Anthony was waiting in line."
Gallina, 36, told authorities that he also rode the Gatekeeper roller coaster and had ridden a total of three coasters — one of them twice, under the same circumstances.
"After speaking with the officers, he realized that it wasn't a good choice of his. I think he even made comments about it wasn't a smart choice on his behalf," the police department's spokesperson said, per 'Law & Crime.'
Authorities reported Gallina was released from custody on his own recognizance because he is the only one to care for the children. Gallina plead not guilty in a court hearing on Monday, according to court records.
'Local 12' reported the incident was reported to the Seneca County Department of Job and Family Services.
