Inset: Anthony Gallina and one of his daughters. Background: Anthony Gallina and his daughters at Cedar Point amusement park (Sandusky Police Department).
This story ends not in tragedy, but with a stern talking to – and with a parent who, according to police, appears to have learned an important lesson at an amusement park last week.
There is also a first-degree misdemeanor charge. But overall, things could have been a lot worse.
Anthony Gallina, 36, of Kansas, Ohio, is charged with one count of child endangerment, authorities said. In a statement, Sandusky police attributed the charge to his “failure to provide supervision of his children,” which could have resulted in “significant endangerment of the children.”
According to police, the father of four left three of his underage daughters alone while he went on a roller coaster ride at Cedar Point in Sandusky. And this may have happened more than once.
The alleged incident occurred on Friday evening, August 16, when a security guard at the 350-acre Six Flags-owned theme park contacted police about an unsupervised child.
The security guard told police that a woman found a 2-year-old girl playing in the dirt near the Magnum XL-200 roller coaster on the park’s center path, according to an incident report obtained by Law&Crime.
The woman and toddler then walked a short distance due south to the Corkscrew roller coaster.
“The woman spotted a car with another unattended toddler in it in front of the Corkscrew,” the accident report states. “She stated that she waited nearly 20 minutes until the child’s father arrived.”
When Gallina later spoke to police, he allegedly admitted to leaving his 8-year-old daughter behind to watch his 4- and 2-year-old daughters while he rode the Corkscrew with his 9-year-old daughter.
“He stated he only waited in line for a few minutes and then returned to his children,” the incident report continues. “It should be noted that during this time, the ride was interrupted for at least 20 minutes while Anthony waited in line.”
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Later in the conversation, Gallina admitted that he rode the Gatekeeper roller coaster with his eldest child immediately after arriving at 1:30 p.m. But, he said, “he was able to see his other three children while he was waiting in line.”
Apparently emboldened by this experience, Gallina admitted to leaving his youngest children unattended on more than one occasion, police said.
When asked how many rides he had been on without the younger children, the accused replied, according to police, that he had “gone on three rides, but on one ride twice.” Police believe that the four- and two-year-old girls were “left unattended several times throughout the day.”
However, police determined that Gallina was the only person caring for the children, so a judge was immediately contacted and the father was released on a bond with a summons.
Police also decided to report the incident to the Seneca County Department of Employment and Family Services.
In the body-worn police camera footage of the arrest, obtained by Law&Crime, the father stands grimly, watching police officers talk to each other while his four daughters sit around and in the red fabric wagon that is being used to transport them through the amusement park.
Anthony Gallina with his daughters (Sandusky Police Department).
At one point, one of the girls, bored and listless, lies down on the edge of the wagon and stretches her back out. Then another girl tries to get out of the wagon. Gallina puts the climbing girl back in the wagon and says: “I know, darling. I’m sorry. You have to stay.”
Moments later, the girl stands up again and calls: “Daddy.”
Gallina was arraigned on Aug. 19, where he pleaded not guilty to the sole charge against him, according to Sandusky Municipal Court records. His next court date is scheduled for Sept. 18.
In comments to Cleveland-based Fox affiliate WJW, police portrayed the incident as a learning experience for the father.
“After speaking with officers, he realized that this was not a good decision on his part,” the police department spokesman said. “I believe he even made comments about how it was not a smart decision for him.”
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