Police: Florida Keys woman arrested after leaving toddler in car while she grocery shopped

A Key Largo woman left a baby alone in her car for more than a half hour while she went grocery shopping Sunday evening, police say.

Yanese Tejada, 30, told Monroe County Sheriff’s Office deputies that she left the 1-year-old in her vehicle while she went inside the Publix at the Tradewinds shopping plaza in Key Largo because she did not want to wake the sleeping toddler. Tejada left the car running with the air conditioner on, said Deputy Becky Herrin, media relations officer with the Sheriff’s Office.

According to the arrest affidavit, she told deputies she left her child alone because “this is Key Largo. Nothing happens in Key Largo.”

The explanation did not satisfy the deputy who was called to the scene. Tejada was arrested on a child neglect charge and booked into county jail at Plantation Key. She was released later that night. Information on her bond was not immediately available.

The police were called by a man who noticed the child in the car. Herrin said he waited outside the car for about 10 minutes and then called 911.

This story was originally published August 28, 2017 at 3:38 PM with the headline "Police: Florida Keys woman arrested after leaving toddler in car while she grocery shopped."