North Charleston police arrested 35-year-old Stacy Leigh Coleman of Summerville, South Carolina, on Sunday for allegedly leaving her young child unattended in a running, unlocked vehicle outside a Target store on Rivers Avenue.
Incident Details
A witness reported the child alone in the vehicle for 5-10 minutes before 10:30 a.m., prompting a police response. Surveillance footage captured Coleman entering the store at 9:29 a.m. with the keys in the ignition and the car running; the child was buckled in a booster seat behind the driver’s seat, quietly playing on an iPad, and was unharmed.
Officers safely removed the child as a precaution, contacted the Department of Social Services, and released the child to a relative.​
Charges and Detention
Coleman faces a charge of unlawful conduct toward a child, a misdemeanor in South Carolina that can carry up to one year in jail for endangering a minor under 6 years old in this manner. She was booked into the Al Cannon Detention Center following the arrest.
