A Sarasota County couple was arrested Sunday after pulling their 7-year-old granddaughter in her toy car with their SUV.
The child's toy car was attached to the SUV with dog leashes. She was not harmed.
Belinda Berloni, 47, admitted that she and her husband, Paul Berloni, 49, used dog leashes to pull their granddaughter in the toy car.
"We were pulling her in the car on the back of the truck, which probably wasn't the best thing to do,'' Belinda said. "I get it, I understand."
The vehicle was travelling less than 10 mph.
Paul Berloni was charged with driving under the influence, child endangerment and driving with a suspended license.
Belinda Berloni faces a child endangerment charge. Both admitted they had been drinking. Belinda said they were just having fun and had been towing the child all day.
The couple was on their third pass pulling their granddaughter on an access road next to Clark Road, when the deputy stopped them.
“I was in the back watching her the whole time," Belinda said. "We were going up and down this road here, this little strip, maybe 5 mph, pulling her behind it. She was like, 'woot, woot, woot.' Having a good time, you know?'"
Berloni said the only reason they decided to pull the toy car is because their granddaughter wanted to ride her toy car and the battery was dead.
"It was battery operated and the battery is broken right now,'' she said. "He pulled us over and I thought we were going to get a warning but no warnings there."