|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
A Danville woman faces felony child endangerment chages in connection with leaving her two infant twins in a car at Stoneridge Shopping Center.
Pleasanton police Sgt. Kurt Schlehuber said the mother, Amanda Nejat, 46, of Danville, was taken into custody last week.
“She was at the mall for 45 minutes. We determined that through our investigation and surveillance video,” he said. “We were called there by a citizen who walked by and saw the infants in the car, heard them crying.”
Schlehuber said the woman, who was driving a Cadillac Escalade, was asked by mall security to stay until police arrived. Nejat had been shopping at Nordstrom while the 11-week-old babies were in the car unattended at about 4 p.m. on Feb. 8, he said.
Nejat was charged with two felony counts of child endangerment — one for each of the twins — and has since been released on bond.
Now there is the possibility that this was not the first time that Nejat had left her children in a parked car.
“There is some indication this has happened before,” Schlehuber. said. “That part is still under investigation.
wtf since when is it illegal to leave ur kids in a car for 45 min? ptown cops with nothing better do do than eat donuts jaja jaja!
Crz, I would consider an infant between the age of 1 month and 12 months. If you dont see a problem with leaving 2 kids that age alone for 45 minutes unattended in a parking lot then I hope you do not have kids.
Do you know how many cars get broken into up there? Do you really think that is a responsible parent especially if this has happened before? Lastly, it is the cops job to respond to incidents like this when they are called to them as it clearly says they were. Enough of the donut nonsense, sounds like they were simply doing their job.
Stoneridge Mall is not the only place parents do this. My family and I were at Hansen park one day when we came across these two young children. One was 6 and the other was 2. The two year old was a girl dressed up in Sunday best and the six year old was a boy and dressed up as well. Mom and dad were nowhere in sight. So the little boy takes off and the girl stays and plays on the jungle gym. We’re thinking, this looks really bad, not good at all. So we ask the little girl where mommy is. She says mommy went shopping. Can you believe it? Mommy brought them to the park so she wouldn’t be bothered by her children while she’s shopping. Well we waited for well over two hours before mommy came back. When we confronted her, she said the six year old who was by the fence playing was suppose to be watching the two year old. Shalso said she does it all the time.
So what’s the age limit to leaving a child in the car? Is it the same age to leaving a child home alone?
Sheryl, in my opinion, you should NEVER leave a child in a car alone, at ANY age. People that do leave children in cars alone are doing it for their own selfish convenience. As for home alone, not until they are teens, and only if that teen has proven him/herself a responsible caretaker of themselves already.
Jessee, next time you see those kids from the park or their mom, call the cops.
I am astounded at the replies of people who seemingly think it is okay to leave kids in cars unattended. Truly astounded and sickened to think they may have kids who are possibly endangered by this horrible parenting. Anyone with common sense knows you do not leave kids unattended, especially in a car, by themselves, in a huge mall parking lot where ANYTHING could happen, especially 11-week old twins who cannot fend for themselves. Ugh!!!
Wow this story really upset me. These twins need to be placed in a loving and responsible home. Is shopping at Nordstrom so much more important than the welfare of your babies?!!
Your always a mother first!! You should always have the safety and well being of your children first. NOT YOUR NORDSTROM CREDIT CARD!!!! I see she did not leave that behind in her car!!!! I hope GOD intervenes and gives these twins a chance at a good life to a loving family. YOU SHOULD NEVER LEAVE YOUR CHILDREN ALONE!!!! YOU SHOULD NEVER LEAVE YOUR BABIES IN A CAR, OR AT A PARK, OR AT HOME!!! THEY NEED TO BE A RESPONSIBLE AGE TO BE LEFT ALONE. I WILL PRAY THAT YOU GET THE MESSAGE TO TAKE CARE OF YOUR BABIES!! AND CUT UP THE NORDSTROM CARD!!!!
Neighbor said: “Sheryl, in my opinion, you should NEVER leave a child in a car alone, at ANY age.”
You’ve got to be kidding. Obviously, there’s an age between birth and 18 when a child can be trusted to be alone in a car for an extended period of time. No one would be scared to leave their high school child alone in the car for awhile. Leaving a junior high school child alone in the car while one makes a quick trip to the restroom at a gas station? Probably OK, too? You can go further down in age, but I think there are circumstances where it is perfectly acceptable to leave a child alone in a car, depending on factors such as location, length of time, the weather conditions, the age of the child, and the maturity of the child.
In this Stoneridge Mall case, the two infants were apparently about two months old. I think that just about everyone would agree that that’s far too young to leave alone in a car while going shopping for an hour.
This sad story reminds me of a time when I had to deliver a package to a business associate. I knocked on his door and eventually two kids opened it and stared at me with sullen eyes. Their parents were not at home. They were about 6 and 8 years old. This was the first time I had seen latch-key kids. They were sad, afraid, lonely. Their house was dark, with the TV playing in the background. You could see the sad future these kids had coming. I’m sure the parents were working hard to pay the mortgage so they could take advantage of the appreciating home prices. Heck, what’s the price of a couple of kid’s emotional stability when there’s money to be made in real estate. I still shed a tear when I think about it.
Well, I’m just saddened by the incident. I Googled her name and she and her husband indeed reside in Danville…(wait for it…) in a 2.5 million dollar estate with palm trees, etc. Why do I make this point? Because she clearly has money and can afford help. Right here in Pleasanton and Dublin there are casual drop-in child care centers for parents who just need a little help, not even ongoing child care. I’m shocked no friends, no one was available to help her?
I’m a parent of three and while I do not have twins, at 46 years old she clearly had some infertility assistance to have twins. She knew what she was getting into; it was a choice to have both babies. I know it is inconvenient to have to get LO’s out of the car into strollers just to run a quick errand, but it’s the right thing to do.
As a parent, I have compassion for this woman’s levels of stress. I do not have compassion though on what she chose to do. I don’t believe anyone should have their children taken from them over this; it’s not like those stories of abandonment you hear about with drug/violence exposure. That said, she needs help. Something isn’t right and for the sake of their entire family I hope she gets help so they can remain an intact family after any criminal punishment is found warranted.
If you are the mom that did this, I’m praying for you. Please join a twins support group or a mommy group for some help.
We never left our children alone in the car, even when they wanted to be!
Why? Because we always prioritized safety over convenience.
Mike
Sam, no, I am not kidding, and I will say it again: People that do leave children in cars alone are doing it for their own selfish convenience. Unlike you, I do not believe that “a child can be trusted to be alone in a car for an extended period of time”. It is just plain wrong.
Neighbor said: “Sam, no, I am not kidding, and I will say it again: People that do leave children in cars alone are doing it for their own selfish convenience.”
And your definition of “child” is what? Anyone from birth up to their 18th birthday?
Sam, I refuse to be baited by you. Again, it is wrong to leave a child alone in a car. Period. As a parent, it is what I believe and what I hold to be true. Splitting hairs regarding what my definition of “child” is will not make me change my sensibilities on the matter. Better luck elsewhere.
Neighbor said: “Sam, I refuse to be baited by you. Again, it is wrong to leave a child alone in a car. Period.”
LOL! So you think that I’m trying to “bait” you, do you? I asked you a simple question concerning YOUR definition of a “child” as used by YOU in YOUR OWN statement. Since when did asking for clarification become a matter of “baiting” or of “splitting hairs”?
But whatever. I’m no longer interested in what you think and neither is anyone else.
Happens at the library every day-I see young “imps” constantly running around with no parent in sight. the parents are too busy yapping with their gym buddy about the next diet craze or busy yelling into their Phones to someone.
Neighbor has a good point. I made the mistake of leaving my 16 year old in a car for a minute while a grabbed a coffee. Never leave the keys with a 16 year old! He did eventually bring the car back, though.
Sounds like that poor woman from Danville came down with a temporary brain tumor like assemblywoma Mary hayashi, hopefully she also has a quick recovery and is able too buy her way out of this miss, and get back to shopping once again maybe leaving the kids with a sitter next time!
For people like “Sam” who have trouble grasping this a “child” in this case is a person who can not let themselves out of the car. You can not leave a teenager in a car. They can let themselves out and as John notes if the keys are left in the car they might go for a joy ride.
As someone who was left in a car when very young, by otherwise well meaning parents, I can tell you it is an awful experience. I almost died and I had nightmares and suffered from car sickness for many years afterwards.
It only takes minutes for a car to heat up to the point of suffocating a baby. No one should ever leave a helpless person alone in a car. It is a terrible thing to do, but so many people are clueless.
I asked my mother about it when I was older. She told me, it wasn’t hot out, we were only going to be gone for a short time. When she got back a short time later I was grey from near suffocation and passed out, after having panicked because I could not get the baby blankets off of me and was overheating.
If you think it is okay to leave any living thing in your car just try sitting in your car with the windows up and see how long you can last. 5 minutes, 10 minutes at the most. Is it that hard to figure out?
The state should provide any urban center such as Pleasanton a 24-hour, staffed, childcare center, free of charge. Parenting is a huge responsibility, but so is life. And sometimes life’s demands are too much for a parent and it’s in everybody’s interest for the child to be dropped off with competent care givers for a spell. Yes, I know, that would mean more state power and another buck or two to be kicked into the tax fund. But like so many other public institutions (e.g., schools, libraries), it would be well worth the investment in our children. Especially today. In the past, there may have been a grandmother or aunt living just down the street who could help out. Not so much any more in this increasingly alienated, disconnected society. There are child abuse issues, parental mental health issues, parental competence issues … all of which perhaps too complex for any one parent to overcome by themselves. Free, on demand childcare centers would provide enormous help and comfort to the innocent kids.
Leaving young children unattended in a vehicle, park or anywhere for that matter is just plain STUPID! Don’t these parents ever read the papers??
Adam Walsh was left alone for 8 minutes in a store and look what happened to him. These parents should not be parents!!!!