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Queens parents accused of leaving child alone in hot car
A couple from Queens is under arrest after being accused of leaving their 1-year-old child alone in a hot car while they went shopping.
NEW YORK - A couple from New York City has been arrested after allegedly leaving their 1-year-old son alone for an hour inside of a car in sweltering heat in Nassau County on Tuesday.
According to authorities, the child was left alone sleeping in the back seat of a Mercedes-Benz around 2:30 p.m. outside of the Americana Mall in Manhasset, as temperatures rose as high as 81 degrees in stifling humidity.
A woman passing by noticed the baby, crying and sweating, and tried to open the car door. When she was unable to do so, she contacted the police while a second witness attempted to use a lock-out kit to get into the car, but was also unsuccessful.
When officers arrived, the baby appeared to be in distress, so they broke a window and pulled out the child. At the time of his rescue, the baby was crying, red in color, and was drenched in sweat, according to officials.
Officers immediately brought the baby into a store to help cool him in air conditioning. An investigation revealed that he had been left alone in the car for roughly an hour.
Credit: Nassau County Police Department
"Nassau PD officers are heroes yet again, and I'm relieved that they were alerted in time to rescue the child," said Nassau County Executive Laura Curran. "It doesn't take a long time for a car to reach deadly hot temperatures on an 80-degree day, and it takes even less time for there to be risk of heat stroke for children."
"Never leave young children alone in cars – even for a quick errand – even with the window cracked – even if you think it’s not that warm. If you see a child alone in a hot car, the right thing to do is call 911 immediately," Curran added.
The boy's parents, Jingcai Zhou, 34, and Lu Lu, 28, both of Queens, were both arrested without incident. They are facing a charge of reckless endangerment and a charge of endangering the welfare of a child.
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