MILTON — A Cumming man was arrested Monday after he left his two children in a sport utility vehicle while shopping in nearby Milton.

According to a report from the Milton Police Department, 31-year-old Joseph Anthony Iatauro left the children, ages 2 and 4, in the back of his running Cadillac Escalade while he went into the Target on Hwy. 9.

He was in the store from 8:24 to 8:34 p.m., according to the report. During that time, the children watched a movie in the SUV.

Police officers were called after a woman in the store’s parking lot saw the children. She asked another woman to stand with the car while she found a Target employee.

In the meantime, the other woman notified police after noticing that the children had been screaming and crying.

Iatauro returned to his car after Target made an announcement inside about the vehicle. The children were picked up by his wife. 

Iatauro was charged with reckless conduct and taken to the Alpharetta Jail, before being transferred to the Fulton County Detention Center the next day.

He was released later on Tuesday after posting a $1,500 bond.

The public has been paying more attention to children in hot cars this year following the death of a 22-month-old in Cobb County, who had been left in a vehicle for hours. That child’s father is facing murder and child cruelty charges.