ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. -- A 36-year-old Florida man is accused of leaving his two young children alone in a running vehicle while he played poker at a race track.

Police arrested Terrence Davis for child neglect after a passerby spotted the children at the St. Johns Greyhound Park.

Davis said he left the car running with the air conditioner on while he went inside the track. He said he had only intended to peek inside the park, but got talked into playing a few hands of Texas Hold 'Em. He told police that he was only inside for about 15 minutes.

"In today's society, you just never know," St. Johns County Sheriff's Office spokesman Chuck Mulligan said. "Someone could have gone and busted a window out and taken a child or taken them in a carjacking."

A company spokesman told WJXT-TV that Davis will be banned from the three Northeast Florida and greyhound tracks and associated Poker Rooms and they will make security changes as result of this incident.

"We have outside security. We're going to make sure they monitor the parking lot, and if anything like this comes to their attention, we would do exactly the same thing -- we'd notify St. Johns County and they would respond," Poker Room security director Asa Higgs said.

The State Attorney's Office is considering whether to charge Davis under a new state law that increased the penalties for leaving a child unattended in a car for any period of time with the motor running.

The children were not injured.

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A witness called the St. Johns County Sheriff's Office at 3 p.m. Wednesday after seeing two boys, ages 3 and 7, in a running vehicle in the parking of St. Johns Greyhound Park on Racetrack Road.

According to authorities, the older boy told the deputy that his father, Terrence Davis, was inside the Poker Room. The deputy went inside and had security page Davis, who said he had been gambling for about 15 minutes and had only played four or five hands while the children were alone in the vehicle outside.

Deputies said the boys' mother responded and took custody of them.

Davis was charged with child neglect and being held on $2,000 bond.

While the car was running and the air conditioning on, officials told WJXT-TV Jim Piggott that Davis could also face traffic charges for allegedly leaving the car running unattended.

"In today's society, you just never know," St. Johns County Sheriff's Office spokesman Chuck Mulligan said. "Someone could have gone and busted a window out and taken a child or taken them in a carjacking."

A company spokesman said that Davis will be banned from the three Northeast Florida and greyhound tracks and associated Poker Rooms and they will make security changes as result of this incident.

"We have outside security. We're going to make sure they monitor the parking lot, and if anything like this comes to their attention, we would do exactly the same thing -- we'd notify St. Johns County and they would respond," Poker Room security director Asa Higgs said.