WASHINGTON – A Virginia woman has been arrested and her child taken to protective services after she left the baby in her car for a half hour while she shopped at Walmart, police say.
Fredericksburg police responded to a report from another customer who found the baby unattended in a vehicle in the parking lot Thursday morning, according to a police statement. The baby was in a child restraint seat and was crying.
The mother, 37-year-old Emma Okyere of Stafford, returned to the scene a few minutes after officers arrived, police say. She had completed two separate shopping transactions at Walmart and left the child in the car for 30 minutes, the police investigation found.
Police arrested her for felony child neglect and put her in Rappahannock Regional Jail under a $1,500 bond. The child was turned over to Child Protective Service, and released later to a family member.
Follow WTOP on Twitter.
(Copyright 2012 by WTOP. All Rights Reserved.)
