Oviedo, Florida – A Florida woman was arrested Wednesday after leaving her kids in the car outside a mall last Friday afternoon. The incident happened outside Oviedo Mall, about 20 miles north of Orlando, according to a police report from the local police department.
Authorities say that at around noon, 24-year-old Alicia Moore parked her car, a 2016 white Lincoln four door sedan, in the lot outside Dillard’s, with her two kids still in their seats.
Inside the department store, Moore allegedly began to shoplift for about an hour, loss prevention officers told police.
As Moore made her way to the exit, the Orlando woman saw her car “engulfed in flames” and dropped the stolen merchandise, reads the complaint.
When firefighters arrived, they found the two children who had managed to escape with the help of Good Samaritans. The juveniles were transported to Arnold Palmer Hospital in nearby Winter Park for treatment of burns and other injuries.
The car was completely destroyed, with “no identifying marks,” says the report.
Scary scene in Oviedo after a car with two children inside caught on fire. Police tell us the children were alone while their mother was inside shopping. They were taken to the hospital with minor injuries. The car had been reported stolen. @fox35orlando https://t.co/QM8j5CExE0
— Amy Kaufeldt FOX 35 (@Fox35Amy) May 29, 2023
While the cause of the fire is still under investigation, police noted that if Moore “was not being neglectful,” the kids would have been safe. The vehicle was stolen out of St. Lucie County.
Moore, who has a lengthy rap sheet, was arrested and charged with arson and aggravated child abuse, as she “knowingly and intentionally allowed [minors] who could not care for themselves alone in the vehicle.”
She is being held in jail without bond.
