Mom left 2 children alone in freezing car while she interviewed for job: Police

An Iowa woman was arrested Tuesday morning for allegedly leaving her 2- and 4-year-old child unsupervised in a car in below-freezing temperatures while she interviewed for a job.

Stephany Moses, 25, was charged with child endangerment after a woman and her cousin reportedly found her two children alone in a car parked in a lot in Council Bluffs. The woman, Jennifer Morgan, told KETV that the car wasn’t running and that both children were only wearing light jackets.

Police said a car window was left slightly open and the doors were unlocked, noting that the temperature was approximately five degrees—but the wind chill made it feel like it was 15 below zero Tuesday morning. Morgan told the news station she and her cousin put the children in their warm vehicle as they waited for police to arrive.

According to the Des Moines Register, police alleged Moses left her children in the car for 45 minutes.

“With the ability of people to freeze at temperatures like that, especially lightly dressed, especially somebody that can’t protect themselves in any way shape or form, it’s pretty egregious to me,” Council Bluffs police Lieutenant Darren Budd said.

Officers reportedly apprehended Moses as she left a nearby Boot Barn. The mom-of-two claimed she was inside the store applying for the job, according to KETV.

“She did look like ‘oh man, I really did screw up’,” Morgan told the outlet.

Moses’ two children, who weren’t injured, were reportedly placed in protective custody with the Department of Human Services.

[Featured image: Stephany Moses/Council Bluffs Police Department]