Photo: wjla.com
A 4-year-old boy from Waldorf, Maryland, is being hailed a (little) hero after he called the cops on the woman who was supposed to be taking care of him, but instead left him and 6 other toddlers inside a hot car.
The woman, whose identity hasn’t been made public, left all 7 kids alone in her car for roughly 30 minutes while she went shopping at the mall. The car had only one baby seat inside and the woman didn’t roll down the windows before leaving. However, police tell ABC affiliate WJLA, she did leave the doors unlocked.
The kids panicked and one of them, believed a boy of 4 years, picked up the phone and called the police. He didn’t know where they were, but police used a GPS tracker to locate the vehicle.
When officers arrived at the scene, they found a black Chevrolet Monte Carlo and 7 children inside, aged 2 to 4, all of them “scared” and “sweaty.” About 10 minutes later, the woman in charge of them returned to the vehicle and admitted to the police that 2 of the kids were hers and 5 of her friend’s. She was supposed to be babysitting the 5.
The woman was charged with confinement of minors in a motor vehicle, which carries a $500 fine and a few days’ worth of prison, or both. Additional charges may be pending.
“It is against the law to leave a child under the age of 8 unattended inside a motor vehicle if the caregiver is out of sight of the child unless a reliable person at least 13-years-old remains with the child,” the Charles County Sheriff's Office says in a statement on the incident.
As news of the incident spread online, people on social media blasted the woman for failing to care for her own kids and those that had been entrusted to her. On a lighter note, some also wondered how she was able to pack 7 toddlers inside a car without them tearing it apart.
Recent estimates show that an average of 37 children die yearly in the U.S. after being locked or forgotten in hot cars, either by parents or caregivers.
The kids panicked and one of them, believed a boy of 4 years, picked up the phone and called the police. He didn’t know where they were, but police used a GPS tracker to locate the vehicle.
When officers arrived at the scene, they found a black Chevrolet Monte Carlo and 7 children inside, aged 2 to 4, all of them “scared” and “sweaty.” About 10 minutes later, the woman in charge of them returned to the vehicle and admitted to the police that 2 of the kids were hers and 5 of her friend’s. She was supposed to be babysitting the 5.
The woman was charged with confinement of minors in a motor vehicle, which carries a $500 fine and a few days’ worth of prison, or both. Additional charges may be pending.
“It is against the law to leave a child under the age of 8 unattended inside a motor vehicle if the caregiver is out of sight of the child unless a reliable person at least 13-years-old remains with the child,” the Charles County Sheriff's Office says in a statement on the incident.
As news of the incident spread online, people on social media blasted the woman for failing to care for her own kids and those that had been entrusted to her. On a lighter note, some also wondered how she was able to pack 7 toddlers inside a car without them tearing it apart.
Recent estimates show that an average of 37 children die yearly in the U.S. after being locked or forgotten in hot cars, either by parents or caregivers.
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