Earlier this month, the Picayune Police Department safely recovered a 3-year-old child left in a vehicle at a local parking lot.
On Feb. 9, around 12:43 p.m., Picayune Police officers were dispatched to a parking lot on Memorial Boulevard in reference to the incident, a departmental report states.
Upon arrival, officers spoke to several complainants who said they noticed a small child strapped in the car seat of vehicle, the report states.
The vehicle was unlocked but the windows were closed, Assistant Chief Jeremy Magri said.
One complainant said she waited for someone to return by the vehicle for five minutes. When no one did, she called the police, according to the report.
The officer, along with Picayune Housing Authority Police, spoke with the child who was able to identify herself. The child said she was with her father, later identified as Sean Caleb Davis, 29, of 114 North Steele Ave., who had gone inside the store, the report states.
The child told officers that her mother was at work at a nearby restaurant. The department then contacted the restaurant in search of the mother, the report states.
An officer entered the store in search of Davis, but was unable to locate him. Upon returning to the vehicle, Davis was speaking with the Picayune Housing Authority officer, according to the report.
Officers estimated the child had been left in the vehicle for 15 to 20 minutes without air-conditioning or supervision, the report states.
Davis was arrested for child neglect.
The child was turned over to the custody of her mother, the report states.
Emergency medical response arrived on scene and said the child showed no signs of injury or illness, but advised the mother to watch for signs of distress, according to the report.