Father Arrested After Abandoning His 3-Year-Old Daughter In A Restaurant

A man who bought a sandwich for his 3-year-old daughter at a Harlem fast food outlet and then left without her has been charged with abandoning the child, officials said last Sunday. Stanley Fredrique, 34, left the girl in a Subway sandwich shop on Saint Nicholas Avenue near 124th Street around 11 a.m., according to police. A worker at the restaurant noticed the girl was alone and took her to a nearby police precinct. The girl was taken to a hospital and then released into the custody of the New York City Administration for Children's Services. She was later returned to the custody of her mother.

Fredrique has been charged with abandonment of a child, act in a manner injurious to a child, and reckless endangerment, investigators said. He denied the accusations to news reporters as he was being taken into custody by police. “I didn't leave my daughter,” he said. “I'm sick. You guys do not know what's going on in my life. You guys are not in my shoes. I got problems. I didn't leave my daughter." 

Subway employee said Fredrique appeared intoxicated when he left the girl in the restaurant. A criminal complaint alleges that Frederique told police he "remembers walking her into the Subway restaurant and then his world went fuzzy."  Frederique was arraigned on Monday and was jailed on $20,000 cash bail.