Va. man charged for leaving children in car in Berlin parking lot

Police say a Virginia man has been charged, after leaving his children in a vehicle at a Berlin grocery store.

Berlin Police say on Friday, Officers responded to the Food Lion parking lot, on Old Ocean City Boulevard, in Berlin, for reports of children left in a vehicle, unattended. Once on scene, Officers say they found the vehicle, which was unlocked with the engine running, with a ten-year-old boy and a three-year-old girl, with special needs inside.

Police say the father of the children was inside of the store, shopping, and had been, for a while. Food Lion employees apparently alerted the father to return to his vehicle, which he did, and was then arrested.

The man, identified as Mark Edward Masci, of Newport News, Virginia, was charged for for leaving a child under eight years of age unattended inside of a motor vehicle without supervision from a person over 13 years of age – child neglect.

The Worcester County Department of Social Services reportedly took temporary custody of the children, while they waited for the children’s mother to come from Pennsylvania, to take custody of the children.

The Berlin Police Department is reminding the public that leaving vehicles unlocked and unattended, increases the chances for theft, or in this case accidental or intentional movement of the vehicle by a child. Police say children and animals should not be left unattended in a vehicle, due to concerns of heat.