2 people arrested after child was left in car for hours outside SC shopping center

SPARTANBURG, SC (WSPA) – Two people were arrested after police say they left a child in a car at WestGate Mall for hours.

According to Spartanburg police, an officer was dispatched to WestGate Mall on Saturday afternoon because a child had been abandoned in the parking lot.

When officers arrived at the scene, they spoke with an employee who said she noticed a vehicle running in the parking lot at 10:30 a.m.

She told the police officer she didn’t think anything of it, but then came out again at 1:30 p.m. and found the same vehicle in the same spot, still running.

She said she went to the car and found a toddler alone in a car seat. She removed the toddler from the car and called 911.

The officers then searched the vehicle and found the identification cards of Shezmon Dendy and Tacara Gill as well as a bag of pink pills in the driver’s door.

When the emergency services arrived on the scene, they examined the child, who only had insect bites on his hands.

Officers said that around 2:02 p.m., both Dendy and Gill came to the vehicle, one carrying a shopping bag and the other carrying a dessert.

Officers attempted to detain Dendy, but he broke free and ran through the parking lot. He was later caught and arrested.

When Gill asked officers where her child was, she was arrested and placed in the back seat of the patrol car.

Dendy was charged with unlawful conduct toward a child and resisting arrest. Gill was charged with unlawful conduct toward a child.

The child was placed in the care of the DSS.