Father of toddler who died in locked car released on house arrest

The man arrested after his 1-year-old daughter died in his locked car last week has been released on house arrest, jail officials said Wednesday.

Sidney Deal, 28, was arrested Oct. 6 and charged with child abuse resulting in substantial bodily harm. He posted bail last Thursday, and a judge ordered that he be released to high-level electronic monitoring, court records show.

According to his arrest report, Deal flagged down a passing patrol car around 3:30 p.m. on Oct. 5 after he realized his keys were locked in the car with his daughter, Sayah.

The report said Deal rejected their offers to break the window or call a tow truck or locksmith and said he just needed to call his brother. Deal’s brother told police Sidney Deal called and asked for their mother’s insurance information after locking his keys in the car but said the air conditioning was still running so the infant would be fine.

When Deal’s brother arrived, he told police, “He immediately took his shirt off, wrapped it around his knuckles and was ready to punch the window,” according to the report. “Sidney stopped him and said he wanted to wait for a tow truck. Sidney insisted he not damage his new vehicle, stating he had just bought the car and did not have the money to repair a broken window.”

Deal’s girlfriend told police that she spent 23 minutes on hold with a locksmith but that Deal didn’t like the price the locksmith gave so he denied the services.

After about an hour, officers smashed a window and took the child out, but her body was in “rigor mortis,” the arrest report said. Her cause and manner of death are still pending with the Clark County coroner’s office.

Deal is expected back in court Dec. 3.

Contact Alexis Ford at aford@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0335. Follow @alexisdford on Twitter.