ODESSA, Texas (KMID/KPEJ)- An Odessa mother was arrested earlier this week after officers investigating a crash said she left her three children alone inside a running vehicle. Chelse Roy, 30, has been charged with three counts of Abandoning/Endangering a Child, a state jail felony.
According to an affidavit, on November 22, officers with the Odessa Police Department responded to the scene of a crash in the Lowe’s Home Improvement parking lot. At the scene, officers met with a woman, later identified as Roy, who said she’d left her three children, ages eight, six, and five, alone in the vehicle while she went inside the store to grab moving supplies. Roy said when she returned to her SUV, one of her children said the vehicle across from them had crashed into them while parking.
Investigators then reviewed security video that showed Roy walking away from her vehicle. A few minutes later, the video captured a second vehicle parking in the stall across from her green Tahoe without incident. About five minutes later, the video showed movement from inside Roy’s vehicle on the driver’s side- officers said her Tahoe then rolled forward and hit the second vehicle.
Roy was arrested and taken to the Ector County Law Enforcement Center where she remained as of Wednesday afternoon. Her bond has been set at a combined $9,000.