Jamie Leigh Gunn was arrested and charged with child neglect (Picture: West Melbourne Police Department)
A mother allegedly left her two young children inside her unlocked car with the engine running while visiting a friend at a bar.
Jamie Leigh Gunn, 33, left her black SUV parked behind Penny Annie’s Bar on Minton Road in Florida, the West Melbourne Police Department stated on Facebook on Monday.
Cops doing a routine patrol of businesses spotted Gunn’s vehicle and noticed a two-year-old and 8-month old baby sleeping in the backseat.
The doors of the SUV, which was registered to Gunn, were not locked and the engine was on. It was not immediately known if the windows were completely shut.
The mother allegedly left her vehicle parked behind Penny Annie’s Bar on Minton Road in West Melbourne, Florida, while visiting a friend inside the establishment (Picture: Google)
Cops found Gunn inside the bar hanging out with a pal.
‘The investigation revealed she had been inside the establishment for at least 20 minutes while having no regard for her children who were left unattended,’ stated the police department of the Sunday incident.
‘When Gunn learned law enforcement was outside with her vehicle, she was more concerned about going to jail, than the welfare of her children.’
Gunn, of West Melbourne, was arrested and charged with child neglect.
She was booked into Brevard County Jail with her bond set at $15,000. She was out on bond on Monday.
Gunn was found to have a criminal record that includes possession of drug paraphernalia, contempt of court, forgery and driving while having a suspended license. Her most recent arrest occurred in July 2022 when she failed to appear in court on charges from one of her past cases, the New York Post reported.
Her children are under the care of a family member.
The Department of Children and Families is conducting another investigation into the incident.
West Melbourne is located about 70 miles southeast of Orlando, near the Indian River on the East Coast.
The incident comes a couple months after a school librarian left his one-year-old daughter in his SUV while working. A co-worker smashed the rear passenger window of the Subaru Forrester and rescued the child, who suffered non-life-threatening injuries.
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Jamie Leigh Gunn ‘was more concerned about going to jail, than the welfare of her children’ when she saw cops.