Mom Leaves Kids In Car To Run Errand
PORTAGE, Ind. (STMW) - While the mother may have thought it was safe to leave her sleeping children alone in her car for a short time, her son was not as content.
When the 4-year-old woke up in the Kmart parking lot and saw only his 1-year-old sister with him, he started crying and screaming for his mother. When a customer parked nearby and got out of her vehicle, the boy jumped out of the silver Pontiac Grand Prix -- setting off its alarm -- and jumped into her arms.
He was still clinging to the stranger when police arrived a few minutes after the 12:04 p.m. Thursday call. He kept hugging her until his mother arrived around 12:18 p.m. and pulled him away, according to the police report.
Police were not immediately able to determine how long the children had been left unattended. The weather was sunny and about 30 degrees outside, but an officer got into the car and noted it was not extremely cold inside and the children were wearing coats.
The mother, Haley Prince, 23, of Gary, returned to the car after she was paged by store security and said she had been making an appointment for the children to have their photographs taken the next day.
"It was just for a short time, and they were sleeping," Prince said to police when told it was negligent to leave children that young without adult supervision.
Prince was arrested on a Hobart warrant for driving with a suspended license.
Portage police will be forwarding a request for new charges, of child neglect and driving with a suspended license, to the Porter County Prosecutor.
The children were released to a family member.
(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2010. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
