By Vivian Manning Schaffel

O. M. G. This story will first make you laugh, then immediately shake your head and tsk in disbelief.

According to WPBF.com, 23-year-old Florida mom Crystal Whitaker managed to stash away over $250 worth of merchandise in a JCPenney dressing room. But when a store employee ran interference at the store's front door, Whitaker, along with a teenaged accomplice, fled on foot across the parking lot -- leaving her 10-month-old baby behind, right there on the sidewalk!

Police said that while Whitaker and the teen were running, they threw all of the stolen merchandise to the ground -- along with Whitaker's purse and identification.

Can you say, "DUH"?

Whitaker was arrested on shoplifting and child-neglect charges.

A police officer interviewed by video on WPBF.com said, "Should you really have to tell somebody not to take your child to commit a crime, let alone put your child in that kind of danger?"

SERIOUSLY!

I guess in Whitaker's world, "every day matters" ... just not everyone!

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