A toddler was placed in protective custody Wednesday after her grandfather left her in a shopping cart at a St. Paul bus stop to go back into a store to retrieve her boot, police said.
Grandfather leaves toddler at St. Paul bus stop
He left her in a shopping cart at a bus stop to go back into a store to retrieve her boot. She was too heavy to carry, he reportedly told police.
By Star Tribune
She was too heavy to carry, he reportedly told police.
While he was gone, a passerby brought the girl into the Wal-Mart in the city's Midway neighborhood. The grandfather then gathered her up and went back out to University Avenue to catch a bus, which later was stopped by police.
He told police he had left the girl alone for about 15 minutes.
Officers decided to turn the toddler over to child-protection authorities because there was a "question of neglect," Walsh said. The grandfather was not arrested, he added, but police and child-protection authorities are investigating.
Police would not release the grandfather's name, Walsh said.
He added that he did not know -- as of late Thursday afternoon -- whether the girl was still in protective custody.
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