PALATKA, Fla.—A Palatka mother was arrested Tuesday after she left her infant in the backseat of her car with the windows up and doors locked for about 20 minutes in 91 degree heat, an arrest report said.
Kaitlyn Nicole Fair, 21, reportedly drove with three of her children, the smallest being a baby less than a year old in a car seat, to Lending Bear Pawn on Reid Street in Palatka around 1:30 p.m. to pay a bill, the arrest report filed by a Palatka Police officer said.
Someone called police and an officer with Palatka PD responded and parked behind a silver PT Cruiser. Inside the backseat, the officer saw an infant that was sweating profusely and looked unresponsive, the arrest report said. The officer tried to open one of the back doors, but the car was locked.
The officer then went inside Lending Bear and asked around to find out whose car that was. The 21-year-old Fair told him it was hers and he told her to immediately go outside and get her child.
It was 91 degrees outside at the time, the police report noted. The child seemed fine once he was taken out of the vehicle.
The officer then spoke with a woman who worked at the store to find out how long Fair had left her baby in the car. An employee said that Fair came in to pay a bill and then spent time on her phone with two of her children nearby, the arrest report continued. The employee told police that Fair had spent 15 – 20 minutes inside the store.
After being confronted by the officer, Fair allegedly told him that she’d spent about three minutes in the store. The officer corrected her and said witnesses told him she’d been in the store for 15 – 20 minutes.
When asked why she’d taken two of her children in the store but left the infant, Fair reportedly told the officer that the baby was having trouble sleeping. He had fallen asleep on the ride and she didn’t want to disturb him, the report said.
The Palatka officer placed Fair under arrest for felony child neglect. She’s being held on $2,500 bond.
Fair’s grandmother came to the pawn shop and took all three children.