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MURRAY — A woman who police say left her 5-year-old son unattended outside a club while she went in to have a drink faces charges Tuesday.
Barbara Jeanette Orchard, 29, was charged in 3rd District Court with child abuse, a class A misdemeanor; escape, a third-degree felony; assault on a police officer, a class A misdemeanor; and interfering with an arresting officer, a class B misdemeanor.
On Aug. 21, Murray police were called to the Highlander Club, 6194 S. Highland Drive, to check on a small child standing alone outside the club, according to charging documents. When officers questioned the boy, he said he "was waiting outside of the bar while his mom had a drink and he could not go inside," court records state.
The bartender told investigators that Orchard entered the bar about 9:15 p.m., ordered one beer and one shot, "downed 'em," paid and left, according to the charges. The time on her receipt was 9:32 p.m.
Another club patron told officers she talked to the boy before entering the club.
"The child told her that his mom went inside for a drink. When she asked him how long she had been inside, the child responded, 'She said it would be a minute, but it had been forever,'" according to court records.
Orchard was placed under arrest, handcuffed and placed in the back of a patrol car. As this was happening, Orchard's mother showed up and police talked to her. When they were done, the officer returned to his patrol car to see if Orchard wanted to say anything else, according to court documents. She declined. But as the officer was attempting to close the door, Orchard — who had moved her cuffed hands from her back to her front — jumped out of the vehicle, the charges state.
She pushed against the officer trying to escape, according to the charges. Several officers restrained Orchard on the ground and placed her back into custody.
On Monday, Orchard was convicted of providing false information to law enforcement in another case in Murray Justice Court, a class B misdemeanor, and sentenced to 12 days in jail, according to court records. In 2013 she took a plea in abeyance to interfering with an arresting officer, a class B misdemeanor, and in 2012 she was convicted of attempted burglary, according to court records.
