Cops: Tennessee Grandma Put Kids in Kennels in Trunk

The children are OK, according to police, but the same can't be said for Leimome Cheeks. The Tennessee grandmother was arrested this weekend after allegedly driving around the Memphis area on Saturday with two grandkids in dog kennels in the back of her Ford Explorer. Police were alerted by a witness who took video of Cheeks releasing a child from the kennel after having reportedly driven from Whitehaven to Collierville to downtown Memphis—a more than 40-minute drive—on a 95-degree day. There were no AC vents in that part of the car.

WATN reports the children, ages 7 and 8, told police their grandmother told them there wasn't room for them in the car. A police affidavit cited by the Commercial Appeal cited a similar statement from Cheeks, who reportedly said "there was no room inside the vehicle earlier in the day." It also states "she checked on the children periodically and later removed them from the kennel and put them in the rear seats of her vehicle.'' She was charged Sunday with two counts of child endangerment. The 62-year-old is out on bond and has a Monday morning court appearance. (More child endangerment stories.)