A 62 year old Big Pine Key woman was arrested Saturday afternoon after she left two disabled men she was caring for in a hot car while she shopped in K-Mart in Marathon.
A witness saw the two men sitting in the van shortly after 1 p.m.. The van was not running and had all the windows rolled up. He called the Sheriff’s Office. When Sgt. Marc Maison arrived, he could see the two men were in wheel chairs which were strapped to the floor of the van to keep them from moving. The men were sweating. He motioned to the men to roll down the windows, but got no response.
He was able to unroll the sliding side door, which was unlocked. As he was doing that, Luda Logash, their caregiver, came out of the store.
Paramedics were called to the scene and checked the two men out. They suffer from a disability which does not allow them to open the door, window or exit the vehicle by themselves. They were not harmed by the incident. Logash was arrested and charged with neglect of a disabled person. Sgt. Maison called for another responsible party to come and get them, and take them home to Big Pine Key.