Pawtucket man charged with leaving 3-year-old boy in car outside casino

Monday 2nd March 2020

LINCOLN -- A Pawtucket man is charged with cruelty or neglect of a child after police say he left his 3-year-old son unattended in a car outside Twin River Casino.

According to a news release from police Capt. Philip Gould, the police were alerted to a young child alone in a car in the Twin River parking lot at about 12:15 p.m. Sunday. The temperature at the time was about 19 degrees, the police said.

Officers found the child secured in a car seat, wearing a winter coat and hat. The car was locked and the vehicle was turned off.

A short time later, Jermaine Jenkins, 38, of Pawtucket, returned to the car. Gould said that Jenkins told officers the boy was his son and that he had gone inside the casino for "a couple of minutes."

Police determined based on surveillance video that the child was left unattended in the car for 11 minutes, Gould said.

The child's mother arrived to take custody of the child. Jenkins was taken to police headquarters, where was charged and released. DCYF was advised of the case, Gould said.

It was the second time in two days that a person was charged with leaving a 3-year-old child unattended in a car outside the casino.