Woman accused of leaving baby in Walmart parking lot while she chases $50

[gollygee]

http://www.newsnet5.com/news/18178645/detail.html

So yeah I'm bothered by the woman leaving the tiny baby alone in the parking lot next to the car, and words can't express how angry I'd be if someone did that my baby.

But I'm also stunned by this: "A Wal-Mart employee said she got the baby after about six minutes and brought her into the store." Now, if you saw a woman chasing money and a tiny baby left alone, would you sit and time her or would you help? I think my instinct would be to help this woman.

[TomInTib]

1. She chased that thing for six minutes?

Sign her up!

[amdezurik]

3. it's Wal-mart, probably had to wait for her break

and even so may get fired for it...

[JI7]

2. i would probably have stood next to the baby until the woman came back

[zbdent]

4. and probably would have been fired ...

remember, it's WAL-MART the employee worked for ...

[FedUpWithIt All]

15. I have been to that Wal-Mart and the employees are great people and often long time employees.

Apparently, they are not getting fired as often as people on DU like to suggest is typical for the chain. Many of the employees are very familiar as they have worked in that store for many, many years.

[FedUpWithIt All]

18. It is too cold this time of year for a two month old infant to be sitting outside for long.

I suspect the employee brought the baby inside for that reason. I would have also.

Today was fairly mild temp wise but it often feels about 10F less this time of year because of the lake and the wind chill.

[Bucky]

5. Y'know, during sales events, the lots may be safer than inside the store

[sandnsea]

6. Some people only have $50 to their name

and may as well take the baby to the welfare department if their last $50 for the month is gone. I can understand the panic and wish the employee would have had a little more compassion.

[gollygee]

7. That's what I was thinking - $50 is a heck of a lot of money to some people

especially these days. A lot of people might be sent into a panic over losing it. I would be upset if I were the mom, but if I saw someone going through that, I'd help in some way. Not sit and time them.

[Breeze54]

8. Let me guess... was this in a

Repuke state?

[gollygee]

10. Ohio

Eastlake, Ohio. I don't know Ohio well enough to know much about Eastlake.

[Berry Cool]

12. First, it's not a Repuke state. Hasn't been for a while, really, no matter what the map said.

Second, Eastlake is about two seconds from me and I confess, I have been in and shopped at that store.

Really, it sounds like what this woman did was not a hot idea, but I question whether it was for "six minutes." It's true, something can happen to a child in only a few, so it's not a great situation, but I can see how seeing $50 fly away in the wind might make someone temporarily lose her train of thought.

Finally, I'm more than a bit sick of some DU'ers' first response to any news story about anything bad happening being an attempt to blame Repukes. "Is it a Repuke state?" Please. Even if it was, the attempt to tar everyone in ANY state with the same brush, not to mention assume that everyone who does something wrong is a Repuke, is annoying as hell. And it's really irritating when it's in your own backyard.

[gollygee]

13. No, Ohio is blue, but I'm from Michigan and I know there are plenty of very red areas in Michigan

so I didn't know if it was a red area. Though, I agree, whether the area is red or blue, and whether the person who did it is a Republican or Democrat, is irrelevant.

[FedUpWithIt All]

16. I grew up in that area.

Lake Co. went for Obama. So did the state.

[trof]

9. Dad and granny left baby in car in Walmart parking lot here yesterday.

Foley, AL
They're doing 30 days in the county lockup.
Mom came and got baby.
No word on her comments.

[sandnsea]

11. Not the same thing

Hopefully you really don't need to have the difference spelled out.

[trof]

24. Thanks for your condescending reply.

Whatever you meant.
:eyes:

[pitohui]

14. i would keep an eye on the baby-- few minutes is not so long to allow a woman to recover her lost $$

i guess i've been there and know what it's like to drop something precious and to have to scurry to pick it up before it's lost

in similar situations i am sometimes reluctant to chase the money for the person, in case it looks like i'm trying to take it, but i would simply keep an eye on the child and make sure the baby wasn't harmed -- or if the money is near me, i put a foot/hand on it while calling loudly, "i've got it right here" so the person knows i don't intend to take it from them but instead want to keep it safe for them

i'm sure the woman also had an eye on the baby in the few moments it took to pick up the dropped cash

all in all, people should help each other instead of looking for reasons to rat each other out

it's xmas, cut each other some fuckin slack for crap's sake

i bet the shithead who dropped the dime on the woman was hoping to grab the lost $$$ herself, don't you?

[FedUpWithIt All]

17. You might not realize how cold it is in the area this time of year.

Apparently the woman was not close enough to the child to see the employee walking away with her. That is incredibly dangerous.

A Wal-Mart employee said she got the baby after about six minutes and brought her into the store.

This sounds like they waited a bit and finally brought the baby indoors which is the right thing to do. Like i said it is cold here this time of year.

[sandnsea]

19. Currently 43 degrees

Must have been warmer earlier today. Somebody was just being an ass.

[FedUpWithIt All]

20. The wind chill here is pretty damned cold. Did you see the wind speed? That is cold air off the Lake

The temp was 42F this morn/afternoon. The wind speed was 22-32 MPH. It felt about 32F. It can be biting.

Again the baby was left long enough that a woman was able to walk away with her. According to the news the employee did not see the woman at all. Watch the video at the link.

edited to ask..nevermind.

[sandnsea]

21. Well there will be store video

So we will see how long it was and where everybody was and how well the baby was wrapped up.

[hedgehog]

22. Gee, this story has nothing to do with the fact that the stopre employee

is white and the accused person is black, does it?

As it happens, I am white but when my kids were little I was accused of not taking care of them properly I think mostly because I was driving a nasty looking car. It's funny how people treat you differently when they think you're poor.

[FedUpWithIt All]

23. The woman who took the baby inside never even SAW the accused.

She said that she was afraid to go near the baby at first because she thought someone might get upset. Nobody did because nobody was watching the child. The woman took the child into the store but did not see the woman or her car as the baby was left in a carrier in a cart, alone.