Drunk mom abandons kids at gas station – then flags down cop for help, WI police say

A Wisconsin mom is accused of driving drunk and abandoning her three children at a gas station, media outlets report.

She got caught when flagging down a police officer because she was lost, according to reports.

Alana Raymond, 21, parked a van at a Kwik Trip in Wausau, Wisconsin, and left her children sleeping in car seats about Monday morning, WAOW reported. When people at the gas station couldn’t find their parent, they called police, the Wausau TV station reported.

Surveillance video showed Raymond abandon the kids and get into another vehicle waiting at the gas station, WSAW reported. Police say she left the keys in the ignition and the lights on, but the vehicle wasn’t running, according to WSAW.

The van was in the parking lot at least 30 minutes before police arrived, the Wausau Pilot and Review reported.

Then another officer found Raymond walking along a road when she flagged the cop down for help, WSAW reported.

At first, she denied leaving her kids in a van at the gas station, the Wausau Pilot and Review reported.

She underwent a field sobriety test, which determined her blood alcohol concentration to be .228, almost three times the legal limit, the newspaper reported. After the officer read her rights, she refused to answer questions, the newspaper reported.

Raymond was charged with three felony counts each of child abandonment, child neglect and operating a vehicle while intoxicated with children under age 16, according to court records.