After leaving their young children unattended in an unlocked car with a significant amount of marijuana, two Arizona mothers were arrested while they went out for drinks at a bar.

The distressing situation came to light when a concerned citizen discovered a young girl wandering around the parking lot of the Westgate Entertainment District and urgently sought help from Glendale police.

‘We found her going up and down here,’ the witness tells the police in body camera footage. ‘She took us to the car.’

Another woman interjects to tell police that the good Samaritan initially asked if the child belonged to her – but she did not.

Both women then searched for the child’s parents – but they could not find any other adults around at 11 p.m., Law & Crime reports. 

Upon inspecting the vehicle, law enforcement discovered three other children inside, one of whom was a seven-month-old baby in a car seat, all left without supervision by any adults, as reported by 12 News.

The cops on the scene estimated that the two older children were around three and four years old.

Officers could be seen in the video, which Glendale police have since posted online, feeding the crying infant and searching the car for any forms of identification.

Instead, one of the officers was seen pulling out a large bag of a green, leafy substance that the police department later confirmed was marijuana.

‘Seriously?’ the officer utters to himself as he realized what he had found.

From there, police entered the different businesses inside the entertainment district looking for the children’s parents.

Finally, after about 45 minutes, the two women returned to the vehicle.

‘Hey, your kids have been here for hours,’ one of the officers could be heard telling one of the mothers in the body camera footage.

‘Hours?’ she responded, incredulously.

She then claimed she and her friend just ‘went inside to go to the bathroom’ and ‘we first went to the Salt bathroom,’ referring to Salt Tacos y Tequila Bar and Restaurant.

‘You went to Salt?’ the officer asked. ‘You went to a bar,’ he clarified.

At first, though, the woman claimed she and her friend were just using the bathroom – but when he asked if the bartender would corroborate her story, she admitted ‘I mean, we did get a drink.’

Meanwhile, the second mother was being questioned by another police officer. 

She, too, insisted that they had only been gone for about 15 minutes and were only using the bathroom.

‘That’s a lie,’ the officer told her. ‘We’ve been standing with these kids for over 45 minutes.’

Eventually, that mother also admitted that she had stopped at the bar. 

By the time the officers were talking to the two women, who have not been identified, police said they ‘smelled like alcohol’ and had ‘slurred speech.’

As it became clear what the two women had done, the first mother could be seen getting emotional as she stood by her claim that she thought they were only gone for about 10 minutes.

‘Like… I thought we were going in and out,’ she told the officer. ‘I’m sorry, I didn’t have my phone on me.’

At that point, she pleaded with the officer to allow her to keep custody of her children.

‘Please don’t take my kids away from me,’ she said. ‘Like, seriously, they’re the only things I’ve got.

‘I know this is super, super bad, I promise,’ she continued. ‘Can I please just walk over to my baby? My heart’s about to explode.’

But both women were ultimately arrested and charged with child abuse with criminal negligence as their children were brought to a local hospital to be evaluated.

However, prosecution was suspended as the women opted to participate in a parenting skills felony diversion program, according to 12 News.

In the meantime, their children were placed in the custody of the Department of Child Safety.

‘We’re thankful to the good Samaritans who stepped in and did the right thing,’ the Glendale Police Department said in a statement.

‘It’s a strong reminder: Leaving kids alone – especially while under the influence – is not only irresponsible, it’s illegal,’ the department added.