Parenting

Police: Mom Punched 7-Year-Old for Being a 'Bad Lookout' While Grandma Shoplifted at Walmart

ParentingPublished Apr 24, 2019
By Kaitlin Stanford
Outside view of a Walmart storefront.iStock/Wolterk

Brace yourself: This is one of those unbelievable stories wrapped in an even more unbelievable story, and it will probably make your head spin. According to AZ Family, a mom in Phoenix, Arizona, was arrested on suspicion of aggravated assault after she allegedly punching her 7-year-old in the parking lot of a Walmart -- and the reason why is even more disturbing.

Rebecca Gonzales was arrested on Friday shortly after police say they saw her assaulting her son outside a Walmart Supercenter.

According to AZ Central, which obtained court documents from Maricopa County, the boy told police that his 27-year-old mother began hitting him "because he didn't watch out for his grandma good enough."

Police say the boy's grandma was shoplifting inside the superstore just moments earlier, and he was allegedly being used in the scheme.

Gonzales was booked on suspicion of aggravated assault, with bail set at $2,500.

Now if she posts bail (which according to reports, has not happened yet), Gonzales will be ordered not to make contact with her son while legal proceedings move forward. No word yet on how the boy is doing, or who exactly is watching him, but many people have feelings about how this child was allegedly treated.

Of course, this story isn't the only jaw-dropping Walmart story to involve parents with questionable morals.

In 2015, two parents were arrested on charges of stealing from a Walmart in Florida. But as they were hauled off to the local precinct, they neglected to mention one "tiny" thing: Their three children were locked inside the family car in the store parking lot. According to reports at the time, the children -- who ranged in age from 2 to 9 -- were left alone for seven hours. They were finally discovered at 2 a.m. by a store employee who found them crying.

That same year, there was also the story of Amber Stephenson, a mom from Indiana who allegedly encouraged her 6-year-old to engage in a brawl inside Walmart. (You can't make this stuff up, people!)

Here's hoping that Gonzales's son, who was reportedly bleeding at the mouth when police reached him, is doing OK now.

Hopefully, he's being looked after by more responsible and caring adults and his mom (and his grandma, for that matter) is held accountable for her actions, if found guilty. 

For now, she is due to appear in court April 26 for a status conference, AZ Central reports, and again on April 30 for a preliminary hearing.

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