Riviera Beach woman arrested after leaving three children in truck with loaded handgun

A Jacksonville woman was arrested in Riviera Beach after police found her three children alone inside a parked tractor-trailer with a loaded handgun, authorities said. Officers responded Sept. 8 to a truck stop where the rig had been sitting at a gas pump for about three hours with no adults present. A 16-year-old boy rolled down a window and told officers he could not move the vehicle. A 5-year-old girl was seen near the cab, and a 20-month-old girl remained inside the truck. Police secured the infant and began searching the cab. Investigators located a Glock Model 26 9mm semi-automatic pistol on the floorboard between the driver’s and passenger’s seats. The firearm was loaded with seven rounds and was seized by officers. Police later located the children’s mother, identified as 36-year-old TorQuita Tashe Griffin, and a companion. Griffin told officers the gun was hers and that she had left the children in the truck for about an hour while she bought food. Griffin was booked at the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office Main Detention Center. She faces three counts each of child abuse and unsafe storage of a firearm, plus two counts of child neglect. Both adults were cited for tr...