EASTON, MA - A mother has been arrested for allegedly leaving her 1-year-old son in a shopping cart at a Target parking lot this weekend, police said.

Police say the store reported a baby was in the parking lot alone around 1 p.m. Saturday. The 17-month-old boy didn't appear to be hurt, but was evaluated by the fire department and then taken to a hospital to be checked.

About an hour later, officers received a call from a man who said he was with the boy's mother and she claimed the baby had been left behind accidentally.

The child's mother, 27-year-old Taylor Perdue, told detectives that she and three friends went back to her car after they left Target and she "believed that one of her friends had secured her son in his rear-facing car seat." Her friends left in a separate car and she then drove to Plymouth, about 33 miles from the Target.

She realized that her son was not in the car seat when she arrived, police said.

She was charged with abandonment and endangerment of a child, police said.

Police returned custody of the child to Perdue, in coordination with the Maine Department of Health and Human Services, later that evening.