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A Phoenix mother is behind bars after police say she left her two children in a car to go shopping at Arrowhead Towne Center.

Glendale police claim Marina Garcia Lobato, 29, "intentionally and knowingly" left her one-year-old and three-year-old in her running car as she went shopping with her five-year-old.

Mall security called police after discovering the two children locked inside the car, which police learned had been unattended for over an hour.

Glendale Fire was called to the scene, and an officer broke the front passenger window to help the two children.

Even though the car was running and the air conditioning was on, it was 108 degrees outside. By the time Glendale fire arrived, the two children were crying.

Glendale police say they called Lobato after her cellphone number was found inside the car.


She had a "large Macy's white plastic bag" when she came outside to meet the officer, according to court documents.

Lobato admitted to the officer that she went inside to go shopping for her children. Because they were asleep when she arrived at the mall, she decided to leave them in the car with the key in the ignition and the air conditioning running.

She also told the officer that she "left the children in the car because they were sleeping and she only had one stroller, and thought it would be easier to just let [the kids] sleep in the car."

Police also said Lobato thought about the possibility of the children being kidnapped if left alone in the car with it running and the key in the ignition.

She told police she, "made a very bad mistake."

Lobato is facing two counts of child abuse and endangerment.