Three children pulled from burning car while mother shoplifted at Florida mall: police
SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) — A central Florida mother has been accused of shoplifting after leaving three children in a parked car that later caught fire.
Arrest report received from NBC affiliate WESH stated that 24-year-old Alicia Moore left three children in a parked car on May 26 when she allegedly shoplifted at Dillard’s in Oviedo Mall.
The store’s security told Oviedo Police investigators that they “observed as Moore and another unidentified man began stealing items.” They were watched by security for about an hour.”
Meanwhile, police said a buyer helped rescue the children from the burning car. They were taken to hospital and treated for first-degree burns, with one child suffering “multiple first-degree burns, particularly on the face and ears,” according to the arrest report.
Moore discovered her car – which was parked in an accessible lot – had caught fire shortly after she left the store. She dropped the suspected stolen items, police said.
Moore was sentenced to the Seminole County Jail on counts of gross child neglect and arson because the fire started during the commission of a felony. She was also arrested on pending warrants from multiple counties unrelated to the May 26 incident, sources said WESH.
Moore pleaded not guilty to child neglect and arson charges in her first court appearance Friday.