A Cape Coral woman is facing child neglect, abuse and other charges after she allegedly drove her SUV into the water off the Sanibel Causeway Tuesday night with a young boy in the vehicle.
Lee County Sheriff's Office deputies and Sanibel police officers were called to the causeway shortly after 5:30 p.m. to find a blue 2011 Toyota Rav 4 about 50 feet off shore of the causeway's A-span beach.
A sheriff's office report said the driver, Amarlyn Cintron-Buccieri, 43, and a young male child were at the shoreline.
The report said that while officers were investigating what they thought was a crash, Cintron-Buccieri went back about 10-feet off shore into the water with the child, grabbing and pulling him by the shirt as he screamed for help.
After being ordered to stop, Cintron-Buccieri did and a paddleboarder nearby helped the pair to shore.
The boy told officers he and Cintron-Buccieri had first gone to Fort Myers Beach and then to the causeway beach and parked. He said Cintron-Buccieri just sat and stared at the water until all of sudden, she "floored" the car and drove toward the water.
Neither Cintron-Buccieri nor the boy were hurt.
She was also charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor and a moving vehicle violation. She was released on $101,000 bond and will be arraigned July 23.