Woman drove with 3-year-old on car

Marathon, Fla. -- Authorities in Marathon, Fla., have charged a woman with child abuse after she drove around a parking lot with a 3-year-old on top of her car.

The Monroe County Sheriff's Office said Brenda Bouschet, 54, was arrested Tuesday night and charged with the felony after several witnesses reported seeing the woman driving around the Marathon Publix parking lot with a 3-year-old girl on top of her 2006 Lexus, the (Marathon) Florida Keys Keynoter reported Thursday.

Deputy Becky Herrin, a spokeswoman for the sheriff's office, said Bouschet "told deputies she didn't understand why she was wrong" to drive around the parking lot with the child on top of the car.

"She said she was just giving the child some air and letting her have fun," Herrin said.

The young girl has been returned to her mother.

Herrin said "the suspect is a relation of the child and the mother," but did not specify further on the relationship.

Copyright 2008 by United Press International.