Crying baby, toddlers found locked inside a hot car outside of Walmart, NJ cops say
A baby and two toddlers were seen crying while locked inside a hot car outside of a Walmart in New Jersey, police said.
The 5-month-old, 1-year-old and 3-year-old were left alone inside the car that had its windows up and wasn’t running in Egg Harbor Township on Wednesday, June 8, Egg Harbor Township police said in a news release.
Temperatures reached 89 degrees that day.
Two women, Cyndie Jourdain and a 17-year-old, are accused of leaving the trio inside the car while they went inside Walmart around midday for roughly 45 minutes, according to police. Surveillance footage showed them leaving the children.
Now, they’ve been charged with endangering the welfare of a child, police said.
Citizens who noticed the distressed children called 911 and waited until police arrived, according to the release.
Police used a “lock out kit” to open the car, authorities said. The children were then taken to a hospital by ambulance “but are expected to be okay.”
“When I arrived on scene, the kids were standing up by the window screaming, knocking on the windows,” Officer Tom Rizzotte told News 12 New Jersey. “I could see them sweating profusely, beads of sweat dropping off their chest. I could see sweat dropping off their heads onto the seat.”
As a result, New Jersey’s Division of Child Protection and Permanency was called to the facility, the release said.
Police thanked the “citizens who contacted (them) and stood by to be sure the children were safe” in the release.
After the two women were arrested, they were “released” but are due back in court, police said.
Egg Harbor Township is about 56 miles southeast of Philadelphia.
This story was originally published June 9, 2022 at 12:32 PM with the headline "Crying baby, toddlers found locked inside a hot car outside of Walmart, NJ cops say."
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