An Ohio father is facing a child endangerment charge after police said he left his 2-year-old daughter alone in a hot car while he shopped at Walmart.
According to WOIO, the incident occurred shortly after 7 p.m. Monday outside the Walmart on Warrensville Center Road in South Euclid. A shopper who saw the child inside a car “parked directly in the sunlight” told a patrolling officer, who responded to the vehicle along with a police supervisor and other officers, South Euclid police said in a Facebook post.
At the time, the temperature outside was about 75 degrees, authorities said.
“Due to the high temperature and heavy humidity, the supervisor instructed officers to open the vehicle, to check the welfare of the 2-year-old girl, who appeared to be passed out,” the post read.
Officers removed the girl, who “was physically warm to the touch and was sweating,” from the vehicle and gave her water, according to the post.
The girl’s father, who had gone inside the store to shop, returned to the car about 19 minutes after he had left his daughter inside the vehicle, police said.
“When he was asked why he left her in the car, he stated that she was asleep and didn’t want to wake her up,” the Facebook post read. “He also said that she had a cold.”
Police charged the 58-year-old man with endangering children, a first-degree misdemeanor, authorities said.