Truck driving parents charged with abuse after leaving 3 kids in a rig parked at the fuel island for 3 hours

The truck driving parents of three children are facing charges after leaving their kids in the truck parked at a fuel island for hours as they went shopping. 

The incident happened at a Marathon truck stop in Riviera Beach, Florida on Monday, September 8th. 

According to NBC Miami, Police were called after truck stop employees noticed a semi truck parked at the fuel island for three hours without moving. Police arrived to find a 20-month-old child, a 5-year-old child, and a 16-year-old inside of the truck cab without their parents. Police then entered the truck and found a loaded 9mm handgun just sitting on the floorboard of the truck cab. 

Officers eventually located the truck driving parents, 37-year-old Torquita Griffin, and 26-year-old D’Ontai Lorenzo Williams Armstrong, at a nearby store. When questioned, Griffin confirmed that the gun was hers, and stated that she had a concealed weapons permit. 

“The message here is that gun ownership comes with responsibility and leaving a fully-loaded gun where a 5-year-old or a 20-month-old, where children could get to it, we certainly could’ve had much more severe consequences,” said Mike Jachles, spokesperson for the Riviera Beach Police Department, to CBS 12.

Armstrong was charged with trespassing, while Griffin was charged with child abuse, neglect, and unsafe storage of a firearm.