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Police: Mother left child in car, went shopping in Pinellas Park Target

 
Vita Abramenkova, 35, of Clearwater told police she did not want to wake her child when she pulled into the Target parking lot at 7150 U.S. Highway 19 N. Instead, she left her in the car for about 40 minutes while the air conditioning circulated on low. [Pinellas Park Police Department]
Vita Abramenkova, 35, of Clearwater told police she did not want to wake her child when she pulled into the Target parking lot at 7150 U.S. Highway 19 N. Instead, she left her in the car for about 40 minutes while the air conditioning circulated on low. [Pinellas Park Police Department]
Published July 15, 2014

PINELLAS PARK — A mother was charged with child neglect Monday after police said she left her 19-month-old daughter inside a locked, running car while she shopped in Target.

Vita Abramenkova, 35, of Clearwater, told police she did not want to wake her child when she pulled into the Target parking lot at 7150 U.S. Highway 19 N. Instead, she left her in the car for about 40 minutes while the air conditioning circulated on low.

Just before 5 p.m., a medic who happened to be in the parking lot called police after he saw the toddler sitting in the car alone. Police arrived, and the child was released to her father.

Abramenkova was charged with child neglect and taken to the Pinellas County Jail, where she was released on $2,000 bail.