Florida Woman Was Shoplifting When Her Car Caught Fire With Her Children Inside

A Florida woman received a dose of instant karma when the car where she left her two young children caught fire while she was inside the mall shoplifting.

Alicia Moore, 24, left her two kids, who police described as young enough that they “could not care for themselves,” in a vehicle parked outside the Dillard’s at the Oviedo Mall on May 26. 

According to a police report obtained by Fox 35, she went into the store with an unidentified male and began to shoplift. As Moore walked toward the exit about an hour later, she noticed her car engulfed in flames. She dropped the stolen goods and ran toward the car. 

Luckily, nearby shoppers noticed the trapped children and worked to rescue them. Both of the kids were taken to the hospital, and one suffered from first-degree burns to the face and ears.

Video captured by a Tesla dashcam and shared by the City of Oviedo shows the fire quickly spread through the vehicle. You can see that the white sedan is completely covered in flames, and the passenger window and front windshield shatter. Thick black smoke billows out of the windows. Police said the car was totaled in the fire.

Moore was arrested on Wednesday and charged with aggravated child neglect, arson, petty theft, and battery. Jail records show she is being held in the Seminole County Jail on a $48,000 bond.