A grandmother was cited Monday morning for leaving a 3-year-old and a 5-year-old in her car, with the windows down and the doors unlocked, while she went into Whole Foods Market in Buckhead.
According to a police report, 63-year-old Marlene Denise Wood didn’t seem to grasp “the possible consequences of her actions. Ms. Wood continually advised she had just run into the store to run an errand.” She could not say how long she had been in the store.
She told the officer she had left the car seat for the younger child “unattached so if she was not back to the car in time he could get out.”
It was around 76 degrees. One of the children complained of being hot so an ambulance was called; he was found to be unharmed.
She was cited for reckless conduct but she was not taken to jail on the misdemeanor charge.
Late last month, a southwest Atlanta woman was arrested and charged with four counts of reckless conduct after allegedly leaving her four kids inside a hot SUV, the AJC reported. Police said Charnae Mosley, 27, left her children – ages 6, 4, 2, and 1 – inside her SUV while she shopped at a southwest Atlanta grocery store.
Authorities have cracked down on such cases after a toddler died after being left in a hot car in Cobb County. The father was charged in the child's death.
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