Woman accused of leaving child in car while shopping

GREENDALE (WITI) -- 22-year-old Elizabeth Perez-Martinez of Milwaukee is charged with misdemeanor child neglect for allegedly leaving her six-year-old child in a car alone while she visited a resale shopping event.

According to the criminal complaint, Perez-Martinez went to Greendale High School on September 14th because it was hosting the resale event. She apparently parked in the back of the school.

A witness who remained in the parking lot while a family member shopped at the event said in the complaint that he noticed Perez-Martinez bring the child out to the car -- and then "went back into the resale shopping event inside the high school." The witness told police "over a half-hour had passed and the woman still had not returned to the vehicle."

The complaint indicates police were called to the scene, they ran the license plate of the car where the child was being held, and then asked staff to page Perez-Martinez.

When officers questioned the child, the complaint said she "did not know how long she was in the car alone, but reported feeling hot."

The investigating officer noted it was 60 degrees outside at the time of this incident -- and the "windows of the defendant's car were cracked open approximately two inches."

If convicted, Perez-Martinez faces up to nine months in prison and $10,000 in fines.

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