A Florida mother allegedly left her five-year-old son inside a parked car with no windows down in the hot afternoon sun while she shopped at Walmart for at least 20 minutes.
Martine Louis-Jacques (62) appeared before a judge on Tuesday, accused of child neglect without great bodily harm, according to NBC 6 South Florida.
Police in Pembroke Pines, where the incident allegedly took place, said that the five-year-old was “scared and distraught” while being left in the hot vehicle for around 20 minutes.
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NBC 6 South Florida reported that a passerby in the parking lot of the Walmart store on Pines Boulevard noticed the child was left alone inside of a car with the engine off and no windows down.
The child was allegedly “frantically banging on the window” to get someone’s attention, as per NBC 6 South Florida.
A Walmart employee was made aware of the incident and then instructed the child to unlock the door.
Following this, the child was able to get out of the car.
The arrest report claimed that when the boy was taken inside the store, he saw his mother walking by the customer service area and he “immediately ran to her.”
The mother then allegedly left the store with her child without talking to Walmart employees.
She was later arrested by police and her bond was set at $3,500.
It is reported that she is now out of jail and has been ordered to have no contact with her son.
