Mom smiles in mugshot after allegedly leaving baby in running car to do shots at nightclub

Hope Schreiber
·Writer
Samantha Grace Vaughan was arrested by Copperas Cove Police Department after allegedly leaving her infant child in a running car while she drank alcohol in a nightclub. (Photo: Copperas Cove Police Dept.)
Samantha Grace Vaughan was arrested by Copperas Cove Police Department after allegedly leaving her infant child in a running car while she drank alcohol in a nightclub. (Photo: Copperas Cove Police Dept.)

A Texas mother was arrested following a struggle with police after she allegedly left her infant in a running car while she took shots in a nightclub.

Samantha Grace Vaughan, 26, of Copperas Cove, Texas, was arrested at the Trackside Night Club after officers responded to a call around 1:45 a.m. local time to a one-year-old child in a safety seat in the backseat of a car. WGMB reported that the car doors were also unlocked.

One responding officer with the Copperas Cove Police Department was able to locate Vaughan inside the night club. She had informed officers that she came inside to pick up her husband; however, the officer observed the smell of alcohol on her. KWTX reported that Vaughan, upon questioning, informed the officer that she had had two shots, according to the arrest warrant affidavit.

The document says that Vaughan struggled with the officers, initially attempting to pull away and then falling to the ground and thrashing, KWTX reported. Inside the officers' patrol unit, she "smashed" her forehead into the steel bar, resulting in a small cut on her head.

The affidavit went on to report that, once taken into custody, Vaughan yelled at the officers, "You will not take my child and place her with a [f***ing] [N-word]."

Court papers show she also threatened an officer and his family.

A preliminary breath test administered at the Copperas Cove Police Department showed Vaughan’s blood alcohol level was 0.148. The legal limit in Texas is 0.08.

Vaughan was ultimately charged with abandoning or endangering a child with intent to return, resisting arrest and terroristic threats to a public servant.

Copperas Cove Police Department did not immediately respond to Yahoo Lifestyle’s requests for comment.

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