An Altoona woman left her 4-year-old daughter alone last week at a East Walnut Avenue playground, according to city police.
Christina M. Orr, 31, of 1421 E. Third Ave. allegedly left the child at the Cherry Grove apartment complex playground, 401 E. Walnut Ave., and drove away about 4 p.m. Oct. 15, police said.
Witnesses told police the girl, hysterical and crying, ran across the street and said she couldn't find her mother. Good Samaritans waited with the child for about 25 minutes until the girl's mother, holding a Sheetz coffee cup, drove down East Walnut Avenue, police said.
Orr stopped when the girl ran to the vehicle, a borrowed green Mitsubishi. When confronted by people about leaving the child, Orr allegedly gave a fake name, records show.
Orr, who allegedly put the child in vehicle without a child's safety seat, told bystanders who took down her license plate that it didn't matter because the car was borrowed, police said.
After running the license plate number through a computer database, police said they were able to contact the car's owner who promptly told them he loaned it to Orr. The vehicle's owner took police to Orr's home, where the Mitsubishi was parked.
The girl was still wearing the same outfit described by witnesses police also said and that Orr's driver's license is suspended.
Orr is charged with misdemeanor child endangerment and traffic violations related to the safety seat and suspended license. Police noted Orr has six prior convictions for driving on a suspended license.
A preliminary hearing is slated for Nov. 28 at Central Court.
