Brevard Mother Arrested After Leaving Her 3-Year-Old Son In Publix Grocery Store Parking Lot
By Space Coast Daily // February 24, 2017
36-year-old Stacy Sifuentes arrested
BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA – Brevard County Sheriff’s Office has arrested a 36-year-old mother for child neglect Thursday night.
According to a release by the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office, on Thursday at around 4:30 p.m., the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office responded to a Publix grocery story on 7325 N. Highway 1 in unincorporated Cocoa, when there was reported a 3-year-old child found wandering in the parking lot.
When deputies arrived, they discovered the 3-year-old boy safely in the custody Publix employees.
The child was uninjured after deputies learned the boy had been in the parking lot for a while and was nearly hit by several vehicles.
For almost an hour, Sheriff’s Deputies made attempts to locate a parent or caregiver, which included a reverse-911 call to citizens in the area.
That is when the 36-year-old mother by the name of Stacy Sifuentes arrived at Publix to search for the child.
According to Cpl. Dave Jacobs of the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office, deputies approached the woman and noted that she smelled of alcohol and didn’t know how her son was left in the parking lot.
Brevard County Sheriff deputies said that during their parking lot search for the parent, they had found other belongings to including the mother’s purse in a shopping cart, said Cpl. Jacobs.
Ms. Sifuentes said that she didn’t realize her son was missing until the woman’s father pointed out that the boy wasn’t with her when she returned home from the store, Jacobs added.
The mother was arrested and charged with child neglect and transported to the Brevard County Jail where she was held on a $2,000 bond.
She has since posted her bond and was released early Friday.
The Division of Children and Families was notified and are also conducting an investigation.
Anyone with information about this incident is asked to please contact the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office North Precinct Patrol at 321-633-7162, or CRIMELINE at 1-800- 423-TIPS (8477)
You can also visit crimeline.org or text ‘crimeline’ plus your tip to CRIME (274637).
All information to CRIMELINE is confidential and you may be eligible for a reward.
ABOVE MAP: According to a release by the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office, on Thursday at around 4:30 p.m., the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office responded to a Publix grocery story on 7325 N. Highway 1 in unincorporated Cocoa, when there was reported a 3-year-old child found wandering in the parking lot.
