..to save his daughter:
Sidney Deal, 27, was arrested on Tuesday and charged with child abuse, neglect, or endangerment resulting in substantial bodily harm after accidentally locking his 21-month-old daughter, Sayah Deal, inside his hot car. He then allegedly refused to break the windows to free her, apparently not wanting to damage the car and believing she was in air-conditioning.
Deal flagged officers to the scene around 3:30 p.m. Monday. The officers offered to break the windows, call a tow truck or get a locksmith for Deal, who had left his keys inside the car, according to the Las Vegas Journal-Review, citing an arrest report from the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department.
Authorities said Deal declined and told responding officers the child would be fine because the air conditioner was running. Instead, Deal called his brother.
When the brother arrived and offered to punch out the window, Deal allegedly "stopped him and said he wanted to wait for a tow truck" and "insisted he not damage his new vehicle, stating he had just bought the car and did not have the money to repair a broken window," the arrest report said, according to the Review-Journal.
Deal's girlfriend also allegedly told police she'd called a locksmith, but the dad didn’t like the price they quoted, so he denied their services, the outlet reported.
Police believe Sayah had been inside the hot car for over an hour when an officer finally broke open a window, Las Vegas Sun reported.
By then, Sayah was already dead, according to the publication.