MIAMI (WSVN) - An alarming arrest was made, resulting in a South Florida volunteer firefighter spending New Year’s Day behind bars.
On Monday evening, Vidal Lazo was seen walking out of Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center. At first, he wasn’t willing to say much but then opened up later on to 7News.
Lazo said it is not what it seems and would be willing to talk about why this happened in the first place and the reason or his arrest.
Lazo, according to authorities, was involved in a crash on Bird Road and Southwest 134th recently that caused him and his daughter to need to go to the hospital.
“I never want to take visitation away from a child. But I’m also concerned about the allegations here and injuries here to the child,” said a judge in a court appearance.
“He tested positive for opioids, methamphetamines and ethanol,” said a woman in the court appearance.
Lazo appeared in court where it was revealed his daughter had significant injuries from that crash. He told the judge he even broke his own back.
He’s charged with child neglect with great bodily harm.
“If this is true then the state has every right to charge additional offenses and if this is true that his child is seriously injured because of his drug and alcohol use then I have to get child protective services involved,” said the judge. “At this point, I don’t have much. It took me a minute to find out what the neglect was because it is so scant.”
It appears Lazo has an affiliation with the Southwest Ranches Volunteer Fire Department.
“Mr. Lazo do you work?” asked the judge.
“I can’t work anymore until I’m rehabilitated,” Lazo responded. “I currently work as a volunteer at a fire department just to keep my certifications.”
Lazo has some previous charges in the past.
According to the Sun-Sentinel back in 2012, a different fire rescue department let him go. It is unclear why.
“We would be asking for a standard bond in this case judge as your honor pointed out,” said Lazo’s attorney. “His one prior is extremely remote in time. It’s from 2012. The state mentioned other cases… those resulted in being dismissed or acquitted by the jury.”
Regarding this most recent case, the judge ordered a stay-away order to comply with the Department of Children and Families or Family Court.
Lazo told 7News it is not what it seems and would be willing to talk about why this happened in the first place and the reason for his arrest. Off camera, he said he had a seizure before that crash.
Copyright 2025 Sunbeam Television Corp. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.