Lockport Woman Leaves Kids In Car Outside Bar For 2nd Time: Police

LOCKPORT, IL —A 36-year-old Lockport woman has been arrested for the second time in less than a month for leaving her kids in a locked car while she went into a bar to drink, police said on Monday.

Kimberly Wells was arrested on Friday night and released on her own recognizance after police said that they were called to a Joliet bar where two children were found unattended in a car, Joliet police spokesman Sgt. Dwayne English said.

Officers found the car in the parking lot of Los Gavenos Bar in the 1100 block of North Hickory St. where they found the children, ages 2 and 3, in the back seat of the vehicle. The windows were closed, and police described the inside of the car as being in deplorable condition, police said.

Police said that Wells came out of the bar and told officers that she was the mother of the two children. Police determined that Wells had been inside the bar drinking for between 30 and 60 minutes.

Police took Wells into custody and the Department of Children and Family Services was notified and the children were placed in the custody of another family member.

Wells was also arrested on June 30 after her children were left unattended in a car while Wells was inside the Crow’s Nest Tavern. She was arrested and charged with two counts of endangering the life and safety of a child, police said.

Wells faces similar charges in the incident on Friday.