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FHP: 6-Year Old Drove, Crashed In Highway 29 Parking Lot As Mother Shopped In Store
May 4, 2019
An Escambia County mother that left her three children in a vehicle while she shopped in a Highway 29 store was charged after her 6-year old drove and crashed the vehicle in the parking lot.
The Florida Highway Patrol said 27-year Cassidy Nicole Ellis was charged with child neglect and leaving children in a vehicle unattended.
According to the FHP, Ellis left her three children -ages six, four and two – in a Dodge Durango Friday night while she went inside the Dollar Tree on Pensacola Boulevard. Her 6-year old backed the vehicle out of parking space, drove the vehicle forward, and collided with a Dodge Charger before the vehicle came to rest on a tree in the parking lot.
The children were not injured.
Ellis remained in the Escambia County Jail Saturday morning with bond set $5,000.
Comments
25 Responses to “FHP: 6-Year Old Drove, Crashed In Highway 29 Parking Lot As Mother Shopped In Store”
REGARDING:
“at the end of the day you are as guilty as the rest of us.”
Possibly, but not of the same things.
David for truth
No, I’ve never left my kids in the car. This is not 1975 anymore. When you have them, especially three, you know you have the responsibility of, yes, unbuckling the seat belts/car seats, putting them in the buggy, the ones that can ride and going through the store with them Or, leaving them at home being watched, in school/daycare or with friends or relatives. OR…leave those said friends and relatives in the car with them….for just a quick trip inside of course.
Sorry Bjay but NO!! We all haven’t left our kids in a car while we ran in a store. As a child I was left in a car while my parents shopped but that was many years ago. Times have changed and there is just too much evil in the world these days to leave children in a car. Not to mention it is illegal to leave a car running and unattended.
Side note; that 6 year old needs their little butt tore up!! That’s southern jargon for an ole fashioned whoopin!!
@ David and Kane
Congratulations for being the parents of the year. I hope some day I could be as perfect as the 2 of you are. Ummm not. You guys are lying through your teeth. You can sit behind your screen and make yourself feel better for all your wrong doings but at the end of the day you are as guilty as the rest of us.
I guess if the kids would have died or ran over some innocent bystander all of you all defending her would think it’s still “OK”?
Child neglect? My mom left me in the car as young as 2 or 3 years old. I was very clear, even at that age, that if I laid hands on the gear shift I wouldn’t sit for a week. She left me there, in a locked car, because I was a brat. (Still am, lol)
To all those PERFECT people in the world who have Sooooo much wisdom and have never made ONE wrong choice,…..Bravo ! Bravo! Don’t worry, next time you make one there will be plenty of people waiting that have nothing better to do than to judge you too!!!!!!!!!?Lol
REGARDING:
“This required a $5,000 bond to be set? Really? She couldn’t have been released on her own recognizance. I just don’t see the point.”
I agree. It seems punitive unless they have a GOOD reason to think she would skip the country…which seems unlikely.
David for good points
The law in Florida regarding “parents” and “caretakers” who leave their child in an automobile is as follows: A parent, legal guardian, or any other person responsible for a child, younger than 6 years of age, may not leave the child unattended or unsupervised in a motor vehicle, for a period in excess of 15 minutes
such blatant act of poor judgement!…and then making excuses…this is what it has come down to?
REGARDING:
“left your kids in the car while you ran into a store real quick. All of us have done it before.”
Actually, some of us haven’t. (We have done other things of questionable wisdom, but not that.) We might be a minority but we exist. And I’m not condemning the one who did. She obviously didn’t recognize the risk.
David for safe children
@Anne if you are leaving your kids in the car because there are so many that it takes to long to unbuckle them all for a short shopping trip perhaps you should stop haviing kids. Leaving children unattended in parking lots is a dangerous stupid stupid stupid thing to do and you are a bad parent if you do this it is really that simple.
@Bjay I have never left my children in the car while I went into a store to shop ever.
@Slimjim Its hot outside and there have been far to many children dying in hot locked cars for parents not to be aware of this so she probably had the vehicle running with the a/c on.
@Christy your parents should have their legs switched for leaving you in the position to be able to put a vehicle in neutral and letting it roll you could have all been killed and if you were your parents would be in prison today.
If it was a newer model Durango it is no wonder the kids would easily be able to do this as the suv has a round knob that you turn to put into gear instead of a stick type shifter but that has to be one tall six year old because you also have to hold the break pedal down while turning the knob at the same time. Maybe the six year old had one of the other children do it.
I feel sorry for this mom. I would be lying if I said I never did the same thing. We didn’t back then get arrested back then.. We didn’t use car seats. Every move we made wasn’t the end of the world. I feel sorry for all of the mothers these days.
Have you not watched Ricky Bobby??
I WANNA GO FAST !!!
wonder what the problem was that she could have at lease taken the key with her
Likely one of those times when it’d only be a quick trip into the Dollar General and back out again. Easier to leave the kids in car than to unbuckle car seats and take the three of them inside only to minutes later have to return to car put them into safety seats and the effort required to do all of that.
Still, it was totally irresponsible for her to leave the kids in the car unattended.
Too bad she didn’t have someone older to make sure the kid didn’t get loose and try to drive the car.
Blessing that there was nobody hurt when the car went into gear.
Hope not a “Next Time” but setting the parking brake might have helped prevent the car from moving.
Lucky lady and kids.
Kids being Kids. She should have taken them in the store with her. My Mom used to take 6 of us in the store with her. Glad no one was hurt!
Back in the day..I remember putting my Moms car in neutral in the driveway, on a hill… All of my siblings and Grandma went for a ride!!! We rolled down the driveway up the neighbors and back down. Thank God no one was hit or hurt. My little legs sure did sting afterwards from a switch.
Mother of the Year..
This required a $5,000 bond to be set? Really? She couldn’t have been released on her own recognizance. I just don’t see the point.
I saw this…how in the world do you leave your kids in the car knowing the things that goes on around here? Oh and it was dollar tree, not dollar general.
The stupidity was already there when the DMV issued her license, it just hadn’t reared it’s ugly head till this story…
You guys act as if you have never left your kids in the car while you ran into a store real quick. All of us have done it before.
Really? You leave 3 children in a car while you shop? The children need to be taken away from her, and she needs to be neutered.
At least she left the AC running for them
Kids these days are smarter than you think.if they can run a computer they can drive a car.what if someone else got in that car an drove off? Shame on you girl