LINCOLN, Neb. (KOLN/Gray News) – A Nebraska woman is facing charges after police say they found a 4-year-old girl left out in the cold at an area truck stop.
Lincoln police say 27-year-old Brittney Clark was arrested on Tuesday after a concerned resident called them to Shoemaker’s Travel Center at about 4:30 a.m.
According to police, the caller told dispatch that they found a young girl left unattended in a car while her caretaker, Clark, was inside playing skill games at the truck stop.
Officers arrived and said they found the 4-year-old girl alone in the car with the radio playing excessively loud.
Officers said the driver’s side window had been partially rolled down, and the vehicle’s engine was off without any heat being produced.
The temperature at the time was around 24 degrees Fahrenheit, authorities said.
Court records stated the girl had also soiled herself by the time officers arrived and her skin was cold to the touch.
Clark left the building when officers began looking at her vehicle. She told officers she had left the heat on for the girl, but officers had to show her that the vehicle would not produce heat while the engine was off, according to an affidavit.
Police spoke with two employees who told them that Clark had been playing skill games since 2 a.m., and surveillance video showed her leaving the building three times. But it was unclear if she went to check on the girl.
Employees told officers that the child had been turning the headlights on and off while she was left inside the vehicle.
Officers determined that Clark was unfit to care for the child and took her into custody. While arresting her, police said she bit one officer and kneed him in the groin before she was forcefully taken to a cruiser.
The 4-year-old girl was placed into emergency temporary custody, and authorities have since filed to pull her from Clark’s custody.
Clark has been charged with one count of felony child abuse and one count of third-degree assault on an officer. Her bond was set at $10,000. She was ordered to have no contact with the girl.
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