Woman Arrested For Leaving 4-Year-Old Daughter In Joshua Tree Gas Station Bathroom

JOSHUA TREE (CBSLA.com) — A mother is in custody Wednesday and a warrant was issued for the arrest of her husband after the couple allegedly left their 4-year-old daughter in a gas station bathroom.

Nichole Pederson, 27, was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of felony child endangerment and is being held on $100,000 bail, according to San Bernardino County sheriff's Sgt. Steve Wilson. Her husband, 36-year-old Robbie Pederson, is wanted on the same charge.

The Joshua Tree couple were apparently with the girl and several other young children when they visited a Valero gas station in the 61000 block of Twentynine Palms Highway at about 5:30 p.m. Tuesday. Deputies reviewing store security video determined that the girl was left behind in the restroom when they left the station in a black 2000 model Dodge Ram four-door truck, Wilson said.

The girl wasn't discovered until about 7:30 p.m., and the sheriff's department was called. She was found to be in good health, and because she could only give the first names of her mother and father, she was turned over to the custody of Child Family Services while her parents were being located.

According to Wilson, Nichole Pederson called the station at about 10:30 p.m. about her lost child, nearly five hours after she was left at the business. A deputy located her, but were unable to conduct a welfare check on her other five children and she did not tell deputies where to find them, he said, but they were later located and taken into the custody of Child Family Services.