MOUNT HOPE, WV (LOOTPRESS) – A mother is arrested after she allegedly left her two children at Crossroads Mall to go to a doctor’s appointment.
According to State Police, on March 23, 2021, troopers responded to a shoplifting complaint at Dick’s Sporting Goods. The suspects were identified as Brian Hart and Terri Ward from Pineyview, WV. According to a worker, the two suspects were with a 14 and 3-year-old child. The male suspect was arrested after he shoplifted two items and concealed them within the child’s stroller. The value of the items was sixty dollars.
Deputies assisted State Police and located the two children within the mall, but their parents were not with them. Deputies searched for the parents all over the mall but couldn’t find them. About 30 minutes later, a deputy returned to the front of Dick’s Sporting Goods and found Mr. Hart. When asked where Mr. Hart had been, he advised that he and his wife left to meet her daughter so she could ride with her to a doctor’s appointment in Virginia. Mr. Hart further advised that they went to the BP gas station on Harper Road. When police spoke to the mother via phone, she advised that she was en-route to Summersville for a doctor’s appointment.
Police say that both suspects left the two children at the mall for approximately one to one and half hours.
Mr. Hart had a previous shoplifting conviction back on February 28, 2020.
Hart was arrested for two counts of child neglect, shoplifting (2nd offense), and conspiracy to commit a misdemeanor.
Ward has been arrested for her involvement and charged with two counts of child neglect and conspiracy to commit a misdemeanor. Â She is currently in Southern Regional Jail under a 15,000 dollar bond.
