PHOENIX — A woman has been charged with abandoning her child in a stroller in a central Phoenix grocery store parking lot.
On Friday, August 2, Miranda Jayn Bukus, 25, was charged with child abuse. Police say that on May 18, Bukus "left her child alone and unsupervised in a stroller in the middle of an empty parking lot."
Police say surveillance video shows Bukus leaving the boy in a parking lot near 19th Avenue and Indian School Road. The video also allegedly shows several cars driving by the stroller before one witness took the child to a safe location and called police.
Court records show that the child was dirty and wet. The Arizona Department of Child Safety took custody of the child. Police say no parent came forward to claim the boy.
Bukus was located and arrested on August 2 at a home in Cave Creek. Her next court date is August 16.
If you suspect a child is being abused, the Arizona Department of Child Services has resources available to report the issue to a social worker. You can call the Arizona Child Abuse Hotline at 1-888-SOS-CHILD (1-888-767-2445), and will be asked for information about the child, as well as the nature of your concerns. You can also get more information from DCS about reporting abuse or neglect online.
