Thread: Woman arrested for child neglect

Suspect allegedly left infant in unlocked vehicle with keys in ignition while shopping
POST FALLS -- A 30-year-old Rathdrum woman was arrested on Saturday after allegedly leaving her 9-month-old girl unattended at Wal-Mart in an unlocked vehicle with the keys in the ignition for at least 25 minutes.

The infant was reported to police by a shopper who heard her crying.

Lori A. Wikum told police that her daughter fell asleep.

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"I just forgot she was back there," she said to police.

She told another officer that she thought the child was with her father.

From the time that police received the call to when Wikum responded to the Dodge Caravan after being paged inside the store was 25 minutes, according to police reports.

While being booked into the Kootenai County jail for injury to a child, Wikum told police, "I deserve this. How stupid could I be?"

The infant was placed in custody of her father. Wikum has since been released from jail after posting a $300 bond.

The windows of the van were partially down, police said.

"The law does not state that you can't leave a child in a car, but it does state that you can't put children at risk or in harm's way," Post Falls police Lt. Scot Haug said. "Leaving a child in an unlocked car in warm weather puts a child in harm's way. Certainly the time the child was left in the car also plays heavily into the decision (on whether to take action)."

Saturday's temperature was nearly 70, and Haug said temperatures can be up to 30 degrees higher inside a vehicle with the windows partially rolled up.

Officer Frank Bowne wrote that Wikum repeatedly made statements such as "Everyone's looking at me like I'm a bad person," and "I'm not a bad mother."

Bowne wrote that Wikum asked about her daughter once and wondered if the incident would be on the news.

"It seemed as if she was more concerned about what people thought of her than the welfare of her child," Bowne wrote.

When Wikum responded to a page inside the store and an officer asked if she had a child, she cried, appeared shocked and repeatedly apologized for the incident, according to police.

Wikum could not be reached for comment Monday night.

http://www.cdapress.com/articles/200...ews/news05.txt

Sounds to me like she was hoping someone would steal the car and child or just the child. Jeez YEA I THINK SHE'S A BAD MOM