WHAT A TRAGIC WAY TO SAVE A MINUTE!

Hard to believe when you hear a story like the one I heard this morning about a young mother leaving her new born baby in the vehicle while she went to the mall!

Absolutely nothing justifies leaving a defenseless baby not only exposed to heat, cold and lack of oxigen, but also with a lack of safety. I am not going to make logs out of the fallen tree, but I must say that there is a complete absence of common sense among young people on these days.

Children having children and going through a transition between high school and parenthood with no life skills or simple logic.

I have tried to figure out what in the world was that young mother thinking when she left her baby in the vehicle. And the thought that maybe she was convinced that nothing was going to happen if she ran inside of the mall instead of having to carry her baby with her, gives me the crypts!

Either she made a very poor decision or simply didn't care about nothing but going to the mall and get her shopping done. Something hard to believe for some of us.

As a police officer I have observed children left on vehicles while the parents go in a hurry into a convenience store to get from lottery tickets to cigarettes or to pay for gas, and unfortunately sometimes the consequences have been dramatic. Please DON' T DO IT!

It takes 5 minutes to take your child with you into the store, hassle or not, it is better to be safe than sorry. However it takes less than 5 minutes for someone to brake a window on your vehicle and drive away with your child in the back sit! And it even takes less than that for someone to abduct your kid.

Objecting: "I am watching him (her) the whole time from the store" doesn't even convince you and nevertheless will convince the judge. Let's make this clear: IT IS AGAINST THE LAW!

The Statue FSS 316.6135 reads: "NO PARENT OR LEGAL GUARDIAN. OR PERSON RESPONSIBLE FOR A CHILD 6 YEARS OLD OR YOUNGER SHALL LEAVE SUCH CHILD UNATTENDED FOR A PERIOD THAT EXCEEDS 15 MINUTES OR ANY TIME AT ALL IF THE VEHICLE IS RUNNING OR THE LIFE OF THE CHILD IS IN DANGER".

From all the dangers we are taking about here, let me give you just a few scenarios:

CASE 1:

Jesse Lugo said Friday he will never again leave his child alone, not even for a minute.

"I know what I did was wrong," Lugo said. "I left my son alone in the car. What happened with my boy yesterday, I just hope people can learn from that."

On Thursday, Lugo parked his car in an alley running parallel to Stewart Avenue, near Eastern Avenue. The father left his 3-year-old son, Jesus, alone in the idling car for less than two minutes while he went to meet a friend at a nearby apartment complex, police said.

That was all the time a car thief needed to get behind the wheel and set off a frantic, four-hour manhunt. (www.kidsincars.com)

CASE 2:

A 4-year-old boy was in critical condition Wednesday night, hit by an SUV as he tried to cross Avenue D by himself to find his mother.

Fort Pierce police spokeswoman Audria Moore said Adam Jones' mother left him in the car Wednesday afternoon and crossed the street to go into a business in the 1500 block of Avenue D.

A little while later, the boy went to look for his mom, Moore said, stepping into the street between two parked cars. Antonio D. Young, 25, of Fort Pierce was driving his red Isuzu Rodeo westbound on Avenue D and tried to swerve when he hit the child, Moore said.

The right front side of the SUV hit the little boy in the head, Moore said. (www.kidsincars.com)

-CASE 3:

Rachelle Paige, 35, reported her son, Okorie Scarbor, missing at 4:50 p.m. yesterday. She told police she left him inside her 1999 Isuzu Rodeo while she went inside a uniform store on the 350 block of Ninth Street near Ringold Street. The keys were in the ignition and the driver's door was unlocked.

Paige said about seven to 10 minutes later, she looked outside and saw the SUV was gone. (www.kidsincars.com)

CASE 4:

Ruth Lynn Chambers, 20, of Northwest 46th Street, Okeechobee, told Okeechobee City Police patrolman William Hill that she had pulled into a convenience store to buy gas.

Chambers, according to Hill's report, said she took her daughter out of the car to go inside the store to pay for the gas, but could not remember if the child, who will be 2 years old in July, was behind her.

Chambers reportedly told the officer she had left her car running and unattended at the pump with the driver's door open. She said while she was paying for her gas, she looked out and saw the car drive across the four-lane road into another parking lot, where it struck a parked vehicle in front of another business, said the officer.

The officer estimated Chambers' car traveled more than 50 feet before coming to a stop.

The car managed to cross the busy roadway without being struck by other vehicles.

Hill reported the child apparently returned to her mother's car unobserved and managed to engage the gearshift. (www.kidsincars.com)

Please DO NOT leave an unattended child in a vehicle NOT EVEN FOR A MINUTE! Just remember that minute could cost you everything! including loosing your child forever.