Summerville parents left infant home alone while they went to the gym, report says

SUMMERVILLE, S.C. (WCBD) – Two people were arrested Sunday night after leaving their infant home alone while they went to the gym, according to a report obtained by News 2.

The arrests came after officers with the Summerville Police Department received an anonymous complaint regarding parents who had left their 7 month old home alone. The report states that the pair were seen getting into their car, without the child, and leaving earlier in the evening.

Officers responded to the apartment off New Canopy Ct. where they were unable to contact the occupants of the suspected apartment unit, despite various attempts.

The officers noted that while knocking on a window, they could hear what sounded like a child.

Maintenance provided the officers with a key to the unit. An infant was found inside a crib in a back bedroom and no one else was inside the apartment.

Officers were eventually able to make contact with the mother, and after they returned home, the pair were taken into custody for unlawful conduct toward a child.

According to the report, the mother said that she and her husband left for the gym after laying the child down. She said they were monitoring the baby through a camera.

She admitted to attending Pivotal Fitness, but officers noted that the closest location was one about 15-20 minutes away on Old Trolley Road.

“It was apparent that both parents realized that they had made a tremendous mistake and were taking full responsibility,” officers said in their report.

Police said the child appeared to be in good health. They said the infant was clean, fed, and that its bedroom was clean. DSS was called and the child was taken into emergency protective services.

The report stated that the father’s sister would be traveling from Tennessee to Charleston to take care of the infant during the investigation.

Both parents were taken to the Hill Finklea Detention Center.