A Bristol Township mother abandoned her autistic 5-year-old son when she left the Levittown Walmart with a pair of sunglasses she did not pay for, according to Tullytown police.
Megan Anne Hartwell, 32, was arraigned Tuesday on a felony charge of endangering the welfare of a child. District Judge Robert Wagner set bail at 10 percent of $200,000 and she was transported to the Bucks County Correctional Facility.
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Hartwell was in Walmart with her autistic 5-year-old son when she walked outside the store on October 1. While outside, she fled without him after she became worried a store loss prevention officer, who was on his phone, was contacting police, according to court papers.
A man who was with Hartwell at Walmart was on the opposite side of the store and browsing while the boy was left alone outside, police said.
In court papers, police said Hartwell called the man who she entered Walmart with and had him pick up the boy from customer service after she fled the store in her 2017 Hyundai.
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Hartwell allegedly told police she did not leave the boy at Walmart on purpose but wanted to avoid going to jail.
“It was 110 percent f**ked up, wrong,” Hartwell allegedly told a police officer while being questioned. “I have never done that before. That little boy is my life.”
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Police said they reviewed surveillance video from the store and saw Hartwell leave the boy.
Hartwell, according to police, was not upfront with the investigating officer when he first questioned her about the incident.
According to county court records, Hartwell has several previous retail thefts under her belt and pleaded guilty in 2015 to simple assault in a Bensalem incident.
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Editor’s Note: All individuals arrested or charged with a crime are presumed innocent until proven guilty. The story was compiled using information from police and public court documents.
