Police: Couple Left Kids In Car While They Stole From Walmart
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FT LAUDERDALE (CBSMiami) - A mother is out of jail after investigators say she left her three children in a car while she shoplifted with her boyfriend.
Broward Sheriff's deputies were dispatched to the Walmart store at 3001 N State Road 7 around 7 p.m. Monday where they arrested 30-year old Tosheba Hope and 24-year old Gerald Moultrie and charged them with grand theft. The couple allegedly tried to steal $600 in tools and car accessories.
Click here to watch Carey Codd's report.
The sheriff's office said neither Hope nor Moultrie told the arresting officers that Hope's children were in the vehicle in the store parking lot
The kids were discovered at 2 a.m. Tuesday still in the car by a customer who noticed them in the back seat crying. They were upset but not physically injured.
A Walmart employee called 911. BSO released the call Tuesday. In it the worker is heard tell in the dispatcher that the kids are two, nine, and seven years old.
They told her they had been in the car since
Being released from school Monday afternoon
"The made a poor judgement (decision) that's what I think," said Walmart customer "Jerome." "They should have used some common sense."
"That's completely irresponsible. First of all you're stealing with your kids in the car, then you don't even tell the police that they're in the car to begin with," said shopper Jessica Camacho.
During a court hearing on the theft charges, Hope told the judge she was expecting.
"I have three small children and I'm currently pregnant," said Hope.
Both she and Moultrie were released on their own recognizance and told not to go back to Walmart.
The children are staying with relatives and the department of children and families is investigating the incident
In addition to grand theft, Hope and Moultrie will face new charges for child neglect.
Leaving jail hope denied she is a bad mother
"You are going off of hearsay" she told reporters
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