A 25-year-old Coalmont man appeared in court Dec. 12 on two charges of neglect of a dependant stemming from an incident that occurred in November.

Greene County Sheriff’s Department Deputy Zach Mead arrested Kaleb James King Dec. 5 on a warrant, which was issued on Nov. 19 from Greene Superior Court. He’s facing two Level 6 Felony counts of neglect of a dependent when the defendant places the dependant in a situation that endangers the dependant.

According to a probable cause affidavit written by Linton Police Department Officer JR Blazier, he responded to a report of a vehicle in the parking lot of Walmart with two small children locked inside. The reporting party, according to the probable cause affidavit, told Blazier when King exited the store and got into the car, she stood behind the car to keep him from leaving. The reporting party then told the officer he removed the children from the car and went back into the store.

At the scene, Blazier ran the plates on the vehicle, which returned to a female from Linton. Blazier wrote in the probable cause that he went into the store in an attempt to locate King and the children; however, he was unsuccessful. He then made contact with the individual to which the vehicle was registered. According to the probable cause, she advised King was driving her vehicle and the children with him were hers.

Blazier was able to make contact with King via phone. According to the probable cause affidavit, King said the children were asleep when he arrived at Walmart and he didn’t want to wake them, so he left them inside the locked vehicle with a window cracked. Security footage from Walmart determined King was inside the store for approximately 16 minutes, thus leaving the children unattended for that amount of time. Footage showed King return to the car and attempt to back out. Due to the reporting party standing behind the vehicle, he removed the children and went back into the store.

When the warrant was served, King was arrested and transported to Greene County Jail. His bond was set at $8,000 surety with 10% cash allowed.