A Milwaukee mother got a head start on shopping ahead of Black Friday, but was arrested at Kmart after police found her three children alone in a freezing car.
Fox 6 News reports, two women called 911 and told dispatchers they were parked next to a car when they saw three small children inside on November 16. The car wasn’t running but the kids were alone in the vehicle sitting in 35-degree weather, not factoring in the wind chill index.
According to the criminal complaint, police responding to the incident said they found a 1-year-old girl in a booster seat:
Only wearing a pajama onesie that was partially unzipped.
While the 6-month-old infant was left covered in a blanket but:
Her bare feet were sticking out and there was a plastic shopping bag at her feet within her reach that posed a choking hazard.
The eldest child, a 6-year-old girl, complained about being hungry because she hadn’t eaten in a while, reports Journal Sentinel. The two infants were also said to be wearing dirty diapers.
Police purchased diapers, food, and water for the children. Ashley Pirlot, 26, told police she had only been away shopping for a few minutes when authorities arrived.
But surveillance video from Kmart showed Pirlot had been gone for 17 minutes. Pirlot was charged with three counts of neglecting a child and plead not guilty.
When confronted about the incident she told police that all three children couldn’t fit in a cart and she didn’t want them running around the store.
In addition, the mother claimed that she didn’t want to deal with belting them in a shopping cart. So she told her eldest daughter to watch her younger siblings.
According to the complaint:
At no time is she observed to have any of her children with her and she is seen casually walking around and shopping.
Pirlot’s hearing is scheduled for December 10.