MESA, Ariz. — Police arrested a Mesa mother after her children were left alone inside a car at a grocery store parking lot, Sunday afternoon.
According to court documents, 23-year-old Jamie Nicole Cassel could be charged with child abuse and negligence after she reportedly admitted to police she left her children in the car while she went into the store for baby food.
Officers responded to the Safeway on Main Street in Mesa Sunday around 3 p.m. A witness said she found two small children in the backseat of a car in the parking lot.
The witness told police she noticed the car was running and unlocked. She said one of the children, that looked to be an infant, was crying. She reportedly waited at the car for several minutes before calling the police.
The witness ended up taking the children out of the car. She told investigators the air conditioning was running, but it could not be felt in the backseat where the children were.
Police eventually spoke with Cassel. Cassel told officers at the scene she purposely left the car running, the air blowing and she was unable to lock up the car, according to the investigating officer's account.
Investigators found Cassel was driving without a valid license and she had a felony warrant out on her from the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office and Chandler Police.
Sunday temperatures reached 110 degrees in the Valley.
