Couple leaves kids in pickup truck while they go to bar

JACKSON — A couple has been charged with leaving four kids in their pickup truck while they went into a bar to play pool, police said.

The four children, ages 1 through 8, were found Saturday by two police officers inside a GMC pickup parked behind Brook Plaza on West County Line.

The officers went inside the bar and found the couple playing a game of billiards. The pair went with police back to the truck and found the four to be OK despite the 32 degree chill. The children had been in the truck for about a half hour.

The 29-year-old Jackson man and 28-year-old woman, whose identities and relationship to the children police did not release in order to protect the privacy of the children, were charged with four counts of child endangerment. The children were turned over to the Department of Child Protection and Permanency (DCPP).

The man was also charged with hindering apprehension when police found he provided investigating officers with a false name to conceal his identity. He was also found to have two outstanding warrants for his arrest out of Freehold Borough. He faces additional charges of driving an unregistered vehicle, driving without a license and failure to use a car seat for the children. He was taken to the Ocean County Jail.

The woman was released pending a court hearing; the owner of the truck was issued a summons for allowing an unlicensed person to operate the vehicle. The truck was impounded and towed from the scene.

Contact reporter Dan Alexander at Dan.Alexander@townsquaremedia.com or via Twitter @DanAlexanderNJ