Lubbock Police arrested Whitney Jade Tapia, 20, of Lubbock and accused her of leaving a small child unattended in a car.
Police were called to Walmart at 702 West Loop 289 late Saturday night. A police report said someone saw Tapia’s car in the parking lot with the motor running. He thought that was odd so he approached the car.
He saw Tapia’s son in the car, so he entered the car, shut off the motor and called for help.
An officer wrote that it was a half hour before officers spotted Tapia as she was returning to the car.
“[Tapia] stated she intended to return to [the victim] and the vehicle after shopping and thought he would be all right by himself as she did not want to take the time to remove him from his safety seat and secure him in a basket,” the police report said. “[Tapia] advised she had family that could come and take custody of [the victim].”
The officer who wrote the report believed the child was obviously less than a year old.
Tapia’s brother was called to take the child, and Tapia was taken to jail for abandoning a child with intent to return. Tapia was able to post bond of $2,500 to get out of jail. The police report indicated the charge against her was a state jail felony.
