200 block of East Cougar Lane near where an abandoned SUV was found with five children inside on Aug. 10, 2024, in McLennan County, Texas (Google Maps). Inset: Jennifer Delgado (McLennan County Sheriffs Department).
Jennifer Delgado, a 32-year-old Texas woman is facing criminal charges after police say they found a total of five children, including two infants, abandoned in her car that was found in a small ditch after a police chase.
The chase took place on Aug. 11 around 8:45 p.m. and began after McLennan County Sheriffs responded to a report of a domestic disturbance at a property on Martin Drive, according to Fox affiliate KWKT.
A couple could be heard loudly fighting and witnesses would later call police to inform them that one of the people they believed to be involved in the fight had wrecked their vehicle in front of a home and then fled the scene in the vehicle, Texas CBS affiliate KWTX reported.
Sheriffs said they soon spotted the vehicle, allegedly driven by Delgado, hurtling along Bob Johnson Road in China Spring.
An officer flipped on his police lights and sirens and attempted to stop the woman but she did not respond, KWKT reported. Officers said she took off instead down China Spring Road until police were briefly forced to end their pursuit.
Sheriffs said they stopped the chase upon realizing that Delgado had several children in the car that could be seen through the windows, according to KWTX.
Shortly after this, sheriffs said a deputy spotted Delgado’s maroon Ford SUV in a small ditch.
The car, now off East Cougar Lane, did not contain Delgado.
Instead, deputies said once they approached and began surveying the interior of the SUV, they only found three children and two infants inside.
There were children’s car seats in the second row of the vehicle but it was unclear from initial reporting if one or any of the children, particularly the infants, were strapped into them during the chase.
The car was turned off when police found it, and so too were the lights, according to KWTX.
All of the children were assessed by emergency medical responders. Police reportedly noted one child said their arm hurt while another said their head was hurting.
“Three of the children stated their mommy was driving fast,” an affidavit reportedly disclosed.
Police said they received a call about Delgado after the crash that helped them locate her. A witness described seeing the 32-year-old woman in her backyard “freaking out” while saying she needed to return to her SUV.
Delgado was arrested and booked into the McLennan County Jail on Aug. 10, but a review of publicly available jail records no longer lists her as an inmate. She is charged with abandoning or endangering a child, evading arrest or detention and fleeing from a police officer.
A request for comment to the McLennan County Sheriff’s Office was not immediately returned Tuesday.
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