Kids trapped in car as it bursts into flames while 'mum shoplifted nearby'

03 June 2023 , 14:01

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Police said the children inside the car 'could not care for themselves' (Image: City of Oviedo)

Police claim a woman in Florida was shoplifting when her car that had her two children in burst into flames.

Alicia Moore, 24, was allegedly attempting to steal items from a Dillard’s store with an unnamed man at Oviedo Mall on May 26.

A police report obtained by Fox Orlando said the children inside the car “could not care for themselves” and that Moore returned to the vehicle to find it "engulfed in flames". The two children were taken to Arnold Palmer Hospital with minor injuries after the fire department responded to calls to the scene.

Grim footage of the car showed it completely at the mercy of orange flames and a window smashed as black smoke filled the vehicle.

Moore was charged with aggravated child neglect and arson as well as petty theft and battery.

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Alicia Moore (City of Orlando)

It is not clear why the car burst into flames (City of Orlando)

Police allege she dropped all of the stolen items and ran towards the car when she saw it. Nearby shoppers and people passing by were forced to act and pull the stricken children out of the burning car.

The police report said one child was left with first-degree burns to their face and ears and police said if Moore "was not being neglectful" the children are unlikely to have been harmed.

It is not clear what caused the fire in the now-ruined car.

One of the children was left with first-degree burns (City of Oviedo)

Moore was arrested on May 31 and is being held in Seminole County Jail on a $40,000 bond, according to jail records.

She was arrested by Orlando Police Department on an unrelated warrant, according to WKMG, before she was brought to the custody of Oviedo police.

The news outlet reported that a number of 911 calls were made and in a call to the authorities, one witness said: "There was a car — I don’t know, somehow is on fire outside at the parking lot at Dillard’s

"There was two kids and a mom, and I think she realized there was a child still in the car, and the car is completely engulfed in flames.”

Benjamin Lynch