Police: Woman left 5 kids in car while getting job application

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A woman is charged with five counts of child neglect without great bodily harm after police say she left five children under the age of 8 in a hot car to get a job application Wednesday afternoon.

Betty Brunson, 23, was released from jail Thursday night, according to Jacksonville Sheriff's Office Inmate Search records. Brunson's relationship to the children was not made clear in a JSO arrest report.

While Brunson was inside the Office Depot at 932 Dunn Ave. to get a job application, an anonymous witness flagged down an officer at the JSO substation to alert them that the children were unattended in the back seat of a Dodge Charger.

According to the JSO arrest report, Brunson told police she was in the store for about 10 minutes to get a job application. Surveillance footage showed Brunson was inside the store for about 15 minutes.

The car's motor was not running, it was 92 degrees outside and the windows were rolled down about 4-6 inches, the report said.

None of the children were injured or needed medical attention. The incident was reported Florida Department of Children and Families.

"You've had about 10 cases of children left in hot cars in Northeast Florida this year but there may be many others that may be unreported and this has got to stop," said DCF spokesperson John Harrell.

Harrell says that number is up from last year. In the past two weeks alone, Action News brought you coverage of Vivian Guo, who was arrested after her 5-year-old daughter spent 45 minutes in a car outside Costco while she shopped.

Nassau County mom Michelle King was also arrested. She claims she forgot her 18-month-old son in the car outside her home. Hamid Ahmadzada is accused of leaving his child in the parking lot of a furniture store while he was working. And Jessica Desaray was issued a misdemeanor citation after kids found her 2-year-old asleep in a car outside her home.

In May, Victoria Baker was charged with child neglect after leaving her child in the car to apply for a job at the Goodwill on Lenox Avenue.

WJAX