TITUSVILLE, Fla. — A woman was arrested after a toddler she was caring for was found wandering unattended along US-1 in Titusville Wednesday morning, police said.
Brittany Jones, 20, is facing a charge of child neglect after a passerby found the 3-year-old child she was caring for wandering along US-1 in front of the parking lot of the Ace Hardware at 3636 S. Washington Avenue around 9 a.m., police said.
Robin Taylor, who works at the Ace Hardware store said she saw the toddler running across the Arby's parking lot next door. She caught the child along with two other people who spotted the child.
"(The child) had no shoes on, wasn't fazed. He was very focused on running," she said. "I was glad I was there, just really glad I was there. It's a very busy road."
Police said it took about 30 minutes to find Jones, the child’s caretaker. They said Jones told them the child walked away while she was sleeping at a friend's house nearby.
The child was also found wandering unattended along Garden Street on Sunday while in Jones’ care, police said.
According to police, the Department of Children and Families was contacted and detectives conducted an assessment.
"Having this incident today so close to the other one and so similar, we immediately made an arrest," Titusville Deputy police Chief Todd Hutchinson said.
DCF is also investigating Wednesday’s incident.
The toddler was unharmed and is being cared for by relatives, police said.