Children Left Alone While Mother Goes To Nightclub

Five children who were left home alone while their mother went clubbing will remain in custody of the Department of Children and Families, a judge ruled Monday.

Formeka Sanders, 29, was arrested after her 4-year-old was found wandering in the Oak Glenn Apartments parking lot about 1:45 a.m. Monday. She is facing child neglect charges.

DCF initially turned the children over to Sanders' mother, a police report said. But at a hearing

Monday, a judge and DCF officials said Sanders' mother has a history of crack-cocaine use.

Sanders has six children, but apparently only five of them were home at the time.

DCF also had prior involvement with the family with allegations involving failure to protect, sexual abuse and inadequate food.

Judge Anthony Johnson indicated Sanders' mother wouldn't be a possible option for the kids to live with because of the previous DCF involvement and drug use.

Sanders' children — ages 12, 10, 9, 4 and 2 — were left home alone at their apartment on Mercy Drive while she went to Club Firestone in downtown Orlando, police said.

Sanders appeared at the hearing in a navy blue jail jumpsuit and said little. She remains in the custody of the Orange County Jail on a $1,000 bond.

David Rushing, the father of the 4-year-old, also attended the hearing and requested custody of the boy. The judge ordered a review be conducted to determine if it will be a suitable home for the child.

A similar study is being conducted at Sanders' great-aunt's home to see where they will be placed.

Police were alerted around 1:40 a.m. by a security guard who was patrolling the parking lot near Sanders unit and found the 4-year-old boy wandering around outside.

The child told the guard he was by himself and then led the guard back to his apartment, police said.

When officers arrived, they found four children sleeping in a bedroom. The officer woke all the children, who all seemed to be fine, according to the report.

The officer tried calling Sanders cell phone several times, but when she answered all he could hear was loud music in the background.

Sanders returned home around 3:20 a.m. Monday with her boyfriend and was detained.

During an interview with police, Sanders said she left her home around 12:30 a.m. and placed her oldest son in charge. She told police she feels the child is "old and responsible enough" to take care of the four children.

Jail records show Sanders has been arrested several times in the past on charges of aggravated battery with a weapon and grand theft of a motor vehicle.

After the hearing, Rushing said he wants custody of his son and he thinks Sanders is a "fit" mother.

"I would never expect for anything like this to happen," he said.

Sunday's incident isn't the first time DCF and law-enforcement have been involved with Sanders' children.

Orlando police and DCF responded to the apartment complex July 6 when one of her children nearly drowned in a pool.

Sanders was not home at the time. A father of one of the children was supposed to be supervising the kids.

"Clearly we have a documented pattern of inadequate supervision and, given the potential for such serious harm, especially in the July incident, we felt we had no choice but to remove the children and place them into protective custody," DCF spokeswoman Carrie Hoeppner said Monday.

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Pocomoke Residents Talk Crime

Ok, Pocomoke! This is a start towards getting a grip on crime in Pocomoke. The sad thing is that it took a senseless murder to rekindle what Pocomoke had started a long time ago. With breaking and enterings occuring daily in your town and information not being given you don't have much to go on. How can the citizens be aware of crime in Pocomoke when they are never kept abreast of what is going on?

You have the attention of Rev. James Jones, Tracy Cottman, Diane Downing, and Bob Hawkins. ALL of these wonderful people are LIFE time citizens of Pocomoke City. Ask them for a weekly crime report of your city. Good luck.

POCOMOKE CITY -- After a Virginia man was shot and killed recently on a Pocomoke City street corner, some concerned Pocomoke City residents are planning a grass-roots solution to the increasing area violence.

About 35 residents met early Saturday at New Macedonia Baptist Church, where they discussed how to map their resources, create more activities for shiftless youths and build coalitions among churches.

The group decided to meet again July 10, back at New Macedonia, where they'll work on a mission statement and their next move.

At the meeting, Pocomoke City Police Chief J.D. Ervin said he's concerned by the trouble that some area youths are stirring up with others across the state line, into Accomack County.

"Seems like most of the incidents we get in Pocomoke are between Accomack and Pocomoke," he said. "Unfortunately, when somebody targets somebody, there's nothing the police can do. We only know about it when it happens."

Police said Reginald Handy, 22, of Greenbush was killed the night of May 26 after an argument on the corner of Fifth and Laurel streets. He was shot in the back and died at the hospital from his injuries.

Worcester County Bureau of Investigation detectives arrested Alex Crippin, 36, of Pocomoke City and charged him with first- and second-degree murder. Police said the two had a history of not getting along. Ervin said the investigation is ongoing.

The Rev. James Jones of New Macedonia said Crippin was raised in Pocomoke City but was away for several years in jail and returned less than two years ago.

"A lot of people didn't know Alex because he grew up here, then he came back," he said, adding "he's not one of our success stories."

Jones said more and more "unrecognizable faces" are coming to Pocomoke City, and he asked police if they could keep tabs on strangers.

Ervin said they can't stop everyone because that would constitute harassment. But police will crack down on misdemeanor offenses all summer long "just to let the community know Pocomoke is safe."

Mohammed Khan lives in Worcester County right outside the Pocomoke City limits. Citing Handy's death, he asked Ervin and council members if they would increase funding toward a greater police presence to prevent another "heartbreaking" scenario

Ervin replied that funding to the town from the state of Maryland -- in particular, highway user fees and police aid funding -- had been slashed dramatically, and the town has had to find innovative ways to make it up.

Ervin also said a community watch program established a few years back "fizzled out" when community support waned.

"As soon as people were arrested, the crime watch went away," he said.

Pocomoke City Council members Tracey Cottman, Diane Downing and Robert Hawkins attended the meeting Saturday, with Cottman stepping up to quarterback comments and ideas. Cottman said community gatherings like this should happen regularly, not just when there's an incident.

Deborah Arnold said each church in town should form its own group to better work toward fixing their town.

"I believe we can clean up this city," she said. "Let's come together for the good of our community. We're getting afraid. We don't know what to do. The police are doing all they can."

Echoing that sentiment was Denise Pettit, who said the community should first turn to prayer and then strategize.

"When you go to God for prayer for his wisdom, you're going to get the problem solved. Other than that it's just not going to work," she said, and the room filled with mm-hmm in agreement.

One recurring topic during the meeting was how local youths show little or no respect toward authority figures and the police, a trait many blamed on irresponsible parenting.

Pocomoke City Police Lt. Marty Koerner, a former Maryland State Police Salisbury barrack commander, said he was shocked by how "completely disrespectful" some young people are in town.

Francis Lee Jones, a deacon at New Macedonia, said children used to show respect to their elders. Not anymore, he said.

"I've been here 70 years now, and it's worse than I've ever seen it," he said.

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