Mass. woman arrested after allegedly leaving toddler in car
NORTH SMITHFIELD — As temperatures nudged the 90-degree mark, a Massachusetts woman allegedly left her toddler alone in a locked car with the engine running while she went shopping inside Wal-Mart yesterday afternoon, police said.
Patrolman Emanual Avila was smashing the windows to free the child when his mother, Annelise Marie Ambert, returned to the vehicle, according to Detective Josh Nelson. The child was unharmed, he said.
Ambert, 21, of 75 High St., Milford, was taken into custody on one count of cruelty or neglect of a child and the state Department for Children, Youth and Families was notified. A child protective worker from the agency was still consulting with police at press time.
Police responded to the Dowling Village shopping center for a report of a child in a parked car, with the engine running and windows rolled up, at about 1:20 p.m. Avila was so concerned for the child’s welfare when he arrived he smashed the windows on both the driver and passenger sides of the vehicle.
“The child seemed to be in pretty good spirits,” said Nelson. “Matter of fact he’s at the police station right now, playing around.”
Nelson said Ambert seemed surprised when she saw a policeman breaking the windows of her car.
Based on the video from television monitors inside the Wal-Mart, police say she was in the store for 5 to 10 minutes.
Though police were concerned about the temperatures inside the vehicle, they found the air conditioning was on after smashing the windows. Nelson said the situation also put the toddler in jeopardy of a child-snatching, especially since the engine was running
The boy was between 1 and 2 years old, Nelson said.
Though given an opportunity to make a statement to the police, Nelson said she declined to do so.