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Mother cited after toddlers left in car

WARREN — A 25-year-old mother of five pleaded not guilty to child endangering Monday after being accused of leaving two children alone in a van in a Giant Eagle parking lot for up to 25 minutes Saturday evening.

Shayla M.L. Harris, 1307 Ward St. NW, was assigned a $2,500 personal recognizance bond and is to appear before Warren Municipal Court Judge Terry Ivanchak on Sept. 10, court records show.

Police found two toddler girls in a van around 6:30 p.m. with one of the children in the driver’s seat, according to a police report. One of the two girls told officers her mother and siblings went into the store and they were left in the car because they did not have shoes on, the report states.

A witness told officers the toddlers had started the car at least once, according to the report. The officer retrieved the vehicle’s keys.

About five minutes after officers arrived at the Elm Road store, Harris and three other children walked to the car with a buggy filled with food, the report states. Harris told officers she did not realize she left her keys in the car, according to the report.

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