A Woman Was Arrested For Driving Around With Her Two Grandchildren In Dog Kennels

The temperature in Memphis, where the viral video was shot, hit 95 degrees on Saturday.

Eric Dupree

A 62-year-old woman in Tennessee was arrested after video posted on social media captured her letting out her two grandchildren from dog kennels in her car.

In the video, the woman, identified by the Memphis Police Department as Leimome Cheeks, can be seen opening a dog kennel in the back of her SUV as a young child emerges onto the street.

Cheeks was arrested Saturday and charged with two counts of child endangerment, according to the Memphis Police Department.

"Leimome Cheeks was interviewed and admitted to riding from Whitehaven to Collierville with the children in the kennel,'' a police affidavit obtained by USA Today reads, referring to an approximately 35-minute drive between the two locations.

"Cheeks further advised they also drove downtown, however she checked on the children periodically and later removed them from the kennel and put them in the rear seats of her vehicle," the affidavit continued.

The video was taken outside Graceland mansion — the former home of singer Elvis Presley — where the temperatures reached 95 degrees on Saturday, the day the video was taken. The affidavit also states there were no vents in the SUV where the kennels were located.

Cheeks was released on bond Sunday, according to Fox 13 in Memphis. A clerk with the Shelby County Criminal Court told BuzzFeed News Cheeks was arraigned Monday and did not have an attorney. She is expected back in court July 9.

Multiple calls to Cheeks's listed phone number were not returned.

A neighbor of Cheeks, Camillia Cowan, told the local station that she recognized the woman in the Facebook video as her neighbor.

“I don’t think she knew because she loves her grandkids,” Cowan said of the bizarre transportation methods. “They’re always outside playing with the dogs and stuff.”

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