Grandmother charged with transporting kids in dog kennels

Marc Perrusquia | Memphis Commercial Appeal

Show Caption Hide Caption Grandmother charged with child neglect Leimome Cheeks, 62,was charged Sunday with two counts of child endangerment after a bystander saw her unlatching two grandchildren from pet kennels.

In a surreal scene that could have been choreographed by a Hollywood comedy writer, a woman opens the back of a Ford Explorer and helps a young girl exit — from a small pet kennel where she'd been latched in.

Only this is no joke.

The woman in the viral video, Leimome Cheeks, 62, was charged Sunday with two counts of child endangerment after a bystander recorded her letting her two grandchildren out from pet kennels in a vehicle.

According to police reports, Cheeks drove the kennel-bound kids, an 8-year-old and a 7-year-old, for miles around Memphis on Saturday.

More: Grandmother who drove grandkids around town in pet kennels appears in court

"Leimome Cheeks was interviewed and admitted to riding from Whitehaven to Collierville with the children in the kennel,'' a police affidavit says. "Cheeks further advised they also drove downtown, however she checked on the children periodically and later removed them from the kennel and put them in the rear seats of her her vehicle.''

According the the affidavit, Cheeks said "there was no room inside the vehicle earlier in the day,'' so she "told them to get inside the kennel.''

The report notes the temperature "reached 95 degrees and there were no vents in the rear of the Ford Explorer.''

Cheeks posted a $100 bond and was released Sunday. She will be in court Monday for an arraignment hearing on the charges.

Tennessee Department of Children's Services spokesman Rob Johnson said in an email Monday, "DCS is now involved and investigating,"

The Commercial Appeal has obtained a copy of the video. In it, a girl climbs out of a kennel from the back of Ford Explorer that appears to be parked in front of the Graceland mansion in Whitehaven.