A 19-year-old woman faces two counts of endangering the welfare of a minor after she left two children under the age of 4 in an SUV for more than 30 minutes outside a North Little Rock shopping center, police said.
Darlisha Batchelor was arrested at 7:35 p.m. Monday at the Lakewood Village Shopping Center at 2703 Lakewood Village Drive, according to a jail report.
The North Little Rock resident is accused of leaving a 3-year-old and a 2-year-old inside a locked Chevrolet Tahoe while she went to an appointment at an eyebrow threading salon, the report states.
Officers said they responded to the scene after a witness flagged them down and told them he had noticed the children unattended in the vehicle since about 7 p.m.
The 3-year-old was able to unlock the Tahoe from the inside, which was about 10 to 15 degrees hotter than the outside temperature, police wrote. Forecasters said Monday's high temperature was expected to be in the upper 80s.
Authorities located Batchelor in the salon, which had curtains over the windows that prevented her from seeing her vehicle, according to the report.
Batchelor told officers her 13-year-old sister had been watching the kids but left without telling her. Police said she later admitted that her sister was never with her or the children.
Records show Batchelor was booked at 12:40 a.m. into the Pulaski County jail, where she remained Tuesday afternoon in lieu of $10,000 bond.