Another day, another child left in a hot car. A sad statement, for sure, but one that, unfortunately, rings true. This time, thankfully, strangers took it upon themselves to pull a 2-year-old out of a car. They discovered her unattended and sweating profusely -- on a 91-degree day -- inside of an unlocked car that was parked outside of a Chipotle restaurant in Kansas City, Missouri.
The girl had vomited four times while she was waiting for her mother, 29-year-old Tiquana Pasco, to exit a Game Stop, according to police. You could say the mom, who claims she left her daughter sleeping in the car while she spent three to four minutes in the shop returning a cord, wasn't exactly thankful when she emerged from the store. Those who found her child say the mom became violent and belligerent when they refused to give her back her daughter.
Jeremy Welch says he and his family had just finished having dinner at Chipotle when they noticed the girl alone in the car. His wife told him they couldn't just leave her there, so they removed her from the vehicle, took off her shirt because it was "wet," gave her water to drink, and attempted to take her inside the Chipotle to cool off. That's when Pasco reportedly exited Game Stop and went ballistic at the sight of strangers with her daughter.
The mom allegedly yelled at the good Samaritans to give her back her child. Welch's wife says she explained to Pasco why they wouldn't do so until cops arrived and that the woman shoved, slapped, pushed her, and tore her shirt.
When they questioned her, Pasco told police she had heard the many stories about children dying because they were left in vehicles. She even admitted to them that she was wrong for doing it. Perhaps she believed her situation was different? That she wasn't like the other parents and it couldn't happen to her?
Pasco is in police custody and is being held on $1,500 bond. She has been charged with second-degree endangering the welfare of a child and could get up to one year in jail if convicted.
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It may seem cruel to not give a mother back her child, and these strangers may seem like busy bodies for intruding here, but they were doing the right thing. There are far too many similar stories we've heard in which the outcome wasn't a positive one. Pasco should be eternally grateful to these well-meaning people for possibly saving her daughter's life and teaching her to be more responsible in the future.
Do you think the strangers had a right to intervene here? What do you think of the mother's reaction?
Image via radcliffe dacanay/Flickr