A Houston man has been charged after he left his children in a car outside his apartment and came out to find the car had been towed — with the children inside.

Police say Victor Ruiz parked his car in a no-parking zone and left his two daughters in the car while he carried groceries into his apartment. While he was inside, a tow truck driver noticed the illegally parked vehicle, hooked it up and drove off.

Neighbours say the truck arrived almost as soon as Ruiz left and that the driver was “in a hurry” to hook the vehicle up and leave.

Sade Jones said she and other neighbours tried to let the driver know there were children in the backseat and chased after him, calling out to him.

“When he pulled into the apartments, he hurried up and hooked his thing on the car,” Jones told Click2Houston.com. “I’m, like, ‘Wait! The kids in the car!’ He snapped the picture and hurry up and sped off . . . ”

Police say the tow truck driver, whose name has not been released, stopped after about four kilometres when he realized there were children in the car, but when police were called, they charged Ruiz.

He is currently in jail on charges of child abandonment for leaving the young girls without supervision and is being held on $4,000 bail.

