A Marathon man was arrested Friday after he left two small children in his car as he shopped for groceries.
A woman noticed the small children – aged 2 and 4 – in the car alone in the parking lot of the Marathon Winn Dixie and she called the Sheriff’s Office. When Deputies John Shinkunas and Deanna Torres arrived at 7:20 p.m. they found 36 year old Claude Nix loading groceries in the trunk of the car. The two small children were in the car and appeared to be fine.
Nix told the deputies he did not understand what the problem was. He said he only left them for a short time while he bought groceries. Deputy Torres viewed store video which showed Nix had been in the store for 20 minutes.
The two children were turned over to their mother. Nix was arrested and charged with child neglect.