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.
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.
ANTHONY LONETREE
