Children left in cold car leads to arrest

By Special to the Beacon

posted Mar 4, 2013 - 9:50:40am

A DeBary woman was arrested early Monday morning for two counts of child neglect when it was discovered that she had been drinking in a bar for two hours while two young children sat in her vehicle in the parking lot. The unharmed children were turned over to relatives while a Volusia County Sheriff’s deputy booked 30-year-old Cheryn Scaggs into the Volusia County Branch Jail in Daytona Beach.

A patrol deputy drove by Shotz Sports Bar & Grill, 167 S. Charles R. Beall Blvd., shortly after 2 a.m. and noticed a crowd had gathered in the parking lot. The deputy investigated and found that an intoxicated Scaggs had asked other bar patrons to help her get home. However, once they got outside they saw two girls, ages 1 and 4, were sitting in the backseat of Scaggs’ sport utility vehicle. The deputy noted that the vehicle was not running and the temperature outside was about 30 degrees.

The deputy questioned witnesses who said that Scaggs had been at the bar since midnight. They noted that she had walked out of the bar a few times, but none of the witnesses knew that the children were out there. Scaggs had even told one witness that she had left the children with a neighbor. A windshield visor was also in place, hindering the view of the SUV’s interior. Volusia County Fire Services responded and determined that the children were unharmed.

—

Reader Comments

The comments posted below are posted by readers, not by The Beacon staff. These comments express the views and opinions of the authors, and not the administrators, moderators or webmaster. The comments forum is governed by these rules. Please use the report abuse link if you find offensive comments.

Comment on this article

Commenting is closed for this article.

If you would like to contribute a letter to the editor, please click here.

Did you find this story interesting or informative? Subscribe to The West Volusia Beacon to read more stories by Special to the Beacon, along with others from our award-winning writers. Subscribe now!