A Florida mother was detained and prosecuted after her car caught fire as she was shoplifting at an Oviedo mall with her unattended children inside, according to authorities.
According to the arrest report published by the Oviedo Police Department, the woman, who was identified as Alicia Moore, 24, parked in a Dillard’s parking lot at about noon on May 26, leaving two children in the car.
According to the investigation, Moore walked inside the business, where loss prevention officers saw her and unknown men shoplifting things for nearly an hour. Moore was exiting the business when she noticed her car was on fire, so she dropped the stolen things and ran away according to authorities.
According to the Yahoo report, shoppers noticed the fire and assisted in the rescue of the youngsters from the flames. The two children were sent to Arnold Palmer Children’s Hospital, where one of them suffered first-degree burns “to her face and ears,” according to the report.
Moore was questioned and asked to speak with an attorney. According to the report, she was detained by the next Orlando Police Department “for outstanding warrants in other counties,” unrelated to the event. Moore was charged with aggravated child abuse and arson while being held at the Orange County Jail, according to the report.
“It is undetermined what ignited the fire, however, if Moore was not being neglectful, it is unlikely [the child] would have been injured,” police said.
Moore also faces four other accusations of petty theft, violence, and assault from earlier cases, according to jail records, and is being detained on a $48,000 bail.
Moore was arraigned Friday and pled not guilty to both counts related to the incident involving her children, according to Seminole County court records.