Girl almost died after politician left kids in Key West pool to go to bar: cops
A candidate for the Colorado state Senate was arrested in Key West on Monday night after police say he left his 4- and 6-year-old children alone in a hotel pool while he went to get a drink at the bar and one of them almost drowned.
Frederick Alfred, Jr. , 38, is running in the June Republican primary for a November election being held to finish the term of the Democratic incumbent, who resigned recently after serving two years of her four-year-term. Alfred narrowly lost the 2024 election for that seat by 2 percentage points, the Colorado Sun reported.
Key West police officers were called to the Opal Key Resort around 7:40 p.m. Monday after getting a call that a young girl almost drowned in the pool, according to Alfred’s arrest report.
A witness, who was also a guest at the hotel, told officers that the 6-year-old boy went to him for help because he couldn’t get his younger sister out of the pool. The man found the girl unconscious and foaming from the mouth and immediately began CPR, according to the arrest report.
The boy also swallowed water while trying to rescue his sister, the report stated.
Alfred, who was holding an alcoholic beverage when police arrived, told officers that he left his daughter and son in the hot tub while he went to the bar, the report states.
The girl regained consciousness and “appeared normal,” but Key West paramedics urged Alfred to let them take both children to a hospital to get checked out because there was “a very significant risk that there could be other issues from the incident that would not present themselves until later,” officers wrote in the report.
Alfred initially refused to let the paramedics take the children, but eventually relented, according to the report. Paramedics transported both to Lower Keys Medical Center. Their condition as of Tuesday was not immediately available. Police also called the Florida Department of Children and Families to check on the children. It is not mentioned in the report if any other adults were with the family at the hotel.
Police said Alfred smelled of alcohol when they talked to him, according to the report. His bar bill showed he ordered a “Bourbon and Bubbles” for $20 and a Levitate cannabis-infused drink for $16, the report states.
As of Tuesday, Alfred was in a Monroe County jail on Stock Island awaiting bond on two counts of felony child neglect without great bodily harm. The Miami Herald reached out to Alfred’s campaign email address for comments. Information about his legal counsel was not immediately available.
This story was originally published April 21, 2026 at 2:04 PM with the headline "Girl almost died after politician left kids in Key West pool to go to bar: cops."
