Oct 3, 2008 11:20 pm US/Eastern
Mom Accused Of Leaving Kids In Car Bonds Out
When Confronted Inside, The Mother Asked "Is There A Problem?"
MIAMI (CBS4) ―
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Misti Ellis has been charged with Felony Child Neglect after police say she left her 3 young children in her car while she went inside a supermarket to browse through magazines.
CBS
A South Florida mother bonded out of jail Friday night, after being accused of leaving her three young children inside a hot car while she went to a Miami supermarket.
The children, ages 2, 1 and 4 months old, were discovered inside the car by a Miami Police Public Service Aide who was called to the Publix Supermarket, located at SW 27th Avenue and 22nd Street, on an unrelated incident.
The aide heard some children crying and when she looked inside the car, she spotted the three young children inside all alone. The cars windows were down and the engine was running, but the mother was nowhere to be found. The Public Service Aide found the mother, Misti Ellis, 19, browsing through some magazines inside the store.
Ellis has been charged with three counts of Felony Child Neglect. Friday night she posted $15,000 bond and left the Women's Detention Center.
Outside of the store when the incident happened, Ellis told
CBS4's Peter D'Oench, "I was only in the store for like two minutes." Police said they were told otherwise. "What we're hearing is that she may have been inside for 10 or 15 minutes," said Miami Police Spokesperson Kenia Alfonso.
Police also say that Ellis is already under investigation for another incident in which her children were also left alone, either in the same car, or at her nearby apartment. When Peter D'Oench tried to ask Ellis about that investigation, she turned her back and refused to answer any questions. When she was asked if she had ever done this before, she replied "No I haven't."
Ellis supports her children as a topless dancer at Tootsie's and there's even a decal on her car which urges you to 'support a stripper.'
As Ellis and her children were taken away, shoppers were horrified by the incident.
"I think it's disgusting. It's crazy," said Frank Briggs. Another shopper agreed. "It's terrible, disgusting. People like that should not have children."
Shopper Diane Fontain was outraged. "You see it on the news all the time. It's not normal behavior, a normal parent wouldn't leave their children even for 15 seconds."
Police say it's fortunate the public service aide reacted so quickly when she heard the kids crying in the vehicle because it was very hot outside. The kids were not hurt but were crying and scared when they were taken away by agents from the Department of Children and Families, which now has temporary custody.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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