another mother

[Lady Cop]

TampaBayTimes

TAMPA — A woman was arrested Tuesday after leaving her children inside an unlocked car while she watched a dance inside a strip club, police said.

Officers were called to the Mons Venus strip club, 2040 N Dale Mabry Highway, at about 7 p.m., where they spotted two children, a 5-year-old boy and a 3-year-old girl, inside an unlocked Ford F-150.

When they opened the door, the children said, "I'm bleeding," an arrest report says. Both had scratches and the boy was crying. The truck smelled of alcohol. Officers found a can of malt liquor inside.

Officers found their mother intoxicated inside the club watching a dance, the report says.

Brandi Jo Roman, 28, of Tampa told officers that she entered the club to have more drinks and left her son and daughter watching a movie inside the car.

Club owner Joe Redner said one his customers spotted Roman's children in the car and went across the street to a parked police cruiser to report her.

Roman tried to enter the club, asked the cover amount and went back to her car to get more money to pay the $20 cover, Redner said Wednesday.

"She paid some of it in quarters," he said. "My manager saw how inebriated she was and we didn't want her to go back to the car and drive away with those kids in that state."

So they let Roman in just long enough for her to order a drink and the police to arrive.

"She wasn't even there long enough to know we don't serve alcohol," Redner said.

Roman was arrested at the club and faces two charges of child neglect.

She was booked into the Hillsborough County jail, where she remained Wednesday in lieu of $2,000 bail.

The Florida Department of Children and Families has custody of the children, police said.