Dad Accused Of Withholding Info On Baby's Head Injury: Deputies

PALM HARBOR, FL – A 24-year-old Palm Harbor father was arrested Tuesday evening by Pinellas County Sheriff's deputies on suspicion of child neglect after reportedly failing to inform medical staff of circumstances surrounding his infant's skull fracture and brain hemorrhage, officials said.

Investigators said Joseph Lusardi on Oct. 20 called 911 to report that his 3-month-old boy was suffering from seizure-like symptoms. The child was transported to the hospital and released the next day after receiving treatment for what doctors thought was acid reflux, the agency said.

The baby's 19-year-old mother on Oct. 22 took the child to After Hours Pediatrics Urgent Care in Palm Harbor as the infant was vomiting and not eating normally, deputies said.

The urgent-care physicians advised the woman to take the infant to Mease Countryside Hospital in Safety Harbor, where the child was admitted. The next day, Oct. 23, Lusardi reportedly told the mother that the baby , while strapped in a car seat, fell off a table on Oct. 20. The mother " immediately informed hospital staff of the fall and a CT scan was ordered," deputies said. Tests purportedly confirmed the child suffered from hemorrhaging on the brain and a skull fracture, and he was transferred to All Children's Hospital for further treatment.

"Detectives say Lusardi told deputies on Oct. 25, that he was at home alone caring for the child on Oct. 20, when the child fell off a table while strapped in his car seat," the agency said. "Lusardi admitted to deputies that he withheld the information about the fall because he was scared."

Detectives arrested at 7:50 p.m. Lusardi, who is charged with one count of alleged child neglect, and transported him to the Pinellas County Jail without incident.

The baby remains at All Children's Hospital, and the investigation continues, the department said.

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--Image via Pinellas County Sheriff's Office