Milwaukee woman arrested after leaving 5 kids, including infant, in car so she could gamble

 

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- A Milwaukee woman has been charged with five counts of neglecting a child after leaving her kids in the car while she gambled at Potawatomi Casino.

According to the criminal complaint 27-year-old Takeshia Stanton left her kids in the car for at least two hours on July 2. 

A guest of the casino saw the children in the car of the parking garage when he got there around 4:30 p.m. and they were still there when he left about two hours later. An officer went up to the car and saw the five children sitting in the car without an adult and the keys in the ignition. The officer said the air conditioning was not on and the car smelled like dirty diapers and gasoline with bottles of engine oil and antifreeze trashed in the car. 

A 13-year-old was sitting in the passenger seat holding a 2-month-old baby. Two 6-year-olds and an 8-year-old were sitting in the backseat.

The temperature outside when the kids were found was about 80° and the officer said there was a folded envelope wedged between the door and glass the prevent the windows from going down.

Officers also saw a bottle of Hennessy in the center console. 

Potawatomi security identified the woman who drove the car to officers who found her at the Spanish 21 table in the casino. Stanton said her mother rented a room at the Potawatomi Hotel and was supposed to pick up the kids so she could gamble. Officers checked and there was no room reserved for the suspect's mom. 

Stanton was arrested and the children were released to family members.