Man involved in Christmas Day crash took off, leaving behind three children, cops say

Three young children had just finished Christmas Day celebrations in Tampa when their night took a turn and they found themselves standing on the side of the road.

The children, ages 7, 10, and 11, were in the car with their great-uncle James Williams that night, leaving family events in Tampa to return to Plant City, family members told ABC Action News.

The parents, according to FOX 13, had asked Williams, 54, to care for the children for a short time.

Deputies called the family that night to say that Williams and the children were involved in a crash.

The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office was called to a crash at Turkey Creek Road and Ethan Way shortly after 9 p.m. on Christmas, according to WFLA News Channel 8. When deputies arrived, they found three children, distraught and panic-stricken, standing in the dark along the busy road.

Williams left the children at the scene of the crash, but not before he made them help get him over a wall and into a nearby neighborhood, witnesses told ABC Action News.

“They started crying and screaming and yelling for help,” said Edwin Rodriguez, who witnessed the aftermath of the crash. “I could tell he was definitely trying to cover himself, take care of himself, before the kids.”

He was found about a mile away from where the children were standing, according to WFLA.

Williams was arrested on three counts of unlawful desertion of a child, a third-degree felony, and remains in jail in Hillsborough County on a $15,000 bond.

Family members told ABC Action News they did not plan to bail him out of jail after he was arrested for abandoning the children.

Williams has been in prison several times on drug and theft charges, ABC Action News reported.

This story was originally published December 28, 2017 at 11:38 AM with the headline "Man involved in Christmas Day crash took off, leaving behind three children, cops say."