Photo: nbc-2.com
When the urge comes, it can make one put all common sense aside. A mother from North Port, Florida, has been charged with 5 counts of child neglect after locking her kids in the car so she could go to the bar for drinks.
The children were all Kristie Johnson’s and they were aged between 5 years and 20 days. The father noticed that Kristie and the kids hadn’t arrived home, so he called her on her cellphone, NBC-2 reports. The eldest child answered, informing them that they were at McDonald’s.
When he called again, the child could no longer tell him where they were. She had no idea where the car was parked and the mother had left, the child told the father. He advised her to try and describe the area so he might recognize something, but that failed; he also told her to honk the horn so an adult might come over and see them: that failed, too.
The father called the cops, who eventually tracked the car to the parking lot of a bar in Port Charlotte. “The bartender told deputies that Johnson came inside alone, had two vodka drinks, and was walking around talking to people. The bartender estimated she was inside the bar for about 30 minutes,” NBC-2 notes.
The report doesn’t say whether the children had been distressed about being left alone and unsupervised, but the mother will now have to face 5 separate charges of child neglect.
Leaving kids unsupervised in a locked vehicle is a bad idea regardless of the circumstances that might force a parent to consider this alternative or weather conditions. Children can harm themselves if they’re not under constant supervision, or they can become victims of carjackers.
Leaving kids unsupervised in a locked car to go drinking when you’re the designated driver is plain stupid and inexcusable.
When he called again, the child could no longer tell him where they were. She had no idea where the car was parked and the mother had left, the child told the father. He advised her to try and describe the area so he might recognize something, but that failed; he also told her to honk the horn so an adult might come over and see them: that failed, too.
The father called the cops, who eventually tracked the car to the parking lot of a bar in Port Charlotte. “The bartender told deputies that Johnson came inside alone, had two vodka drinks, and was walking around talking to people. The bartender estimated she was inside the bar for about 30 minutes,” NBC-2 notes.
The report doesn’t say whether the children had been distressed about being left alone and unsupervised, but the mother will now have to face 5 separate charges of child neglect.
Leaving kids unsupervised in a locked vehicle is a bad idea regardless of the circumstances that might force a parent to consider this alternative or weather conditions. Children can harm themselves if they’re not under constant supervision, or they can become victims of carjackers.
Leaving kids unsupervised in a locked car to go drinking when you’re the designated driver is plain stupid and inexcusable.
Google News