WUFT-TV/FM | WJUF-FM
1200 Weimer Hall | P.O. Box 118405
Gainesville, FL 32611
(352) 392-5551

A service of the College of Journalism and Communications at the University of Florida.

© 2024 WUFT / Division of Media Properties
News and Public Media for North Central Florida
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Police: Interlachen Man Slept While Child, 1, Was Outside Alone

Brandon Overton (Photo from Putnam County jail)
Brandon Overton (Photo from Putnam County jail)

An Interlachen man was arrested Monday morning after police believe his 1-year-old son was left unattended outside his home.

Brandon Overton, 23, was charged with child neglect and was booked into the Putnam County jail, according to a news release from the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office.

Police received a call from a neighbor about 10 a.m. regarding the child being outside alone twice within an hour and a half at the home on Fred Street, the release said.

When the neighbor first saw the child, she knocked on the home’s door and woke up Overton.

Overton told her his son had wandered outside while he was asleep, according to the release.

Upon seeing the child alone in the yard a second time and unsuccessfully trying to again find Overton, the neighbor called police.

After talking with a responding deputy, Overton was placed under arrest and later received a $10,000 bond. He bonded out of jail Tuesday afternoon.

Overton has a previous charge of child neglect stemming from an October 2016 incident in which another one of his children, a 3-year-old boy, wandered from the house while Overton slept, the release said.

Two sheriff’s office spokespeople weren’t immediately available, so further details — including what, if anything, happened with the children — are unclear.

Baylor Cherry is a reporter for WUFT News and can be reached at 727-916-0142.