Similar to the incident reported on Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2013, when a citizen alerted police to a seven-month-old boy left alone in a locked vehicle, CARRT was called again on Friday, Sept. 13, 2013, by another concerned citizen, after she noticed a two-year-old boy alone in a locked vehicle, parked in a retail lot at 23 Avenue and 111 Street. The citizen reported the child was out of his car seat. Her concern grew when she noticed the child had an active nosebleed.
“The citizen believed the child was in medical distress and made the decision to react immediately,” says Sgt. Gary Willits of CARRT. “She was able to unlock the doors through a partially open window, remove the child from his car seat and call police.”
The outdoor temperature was close to 30 degrees Celsius; based on witness accounts, the child may have been left unsupervised for approximately 25 minutes. The child did not require any serious medical assistance.
An Aunt of the 2-year-old boy was charged under the Child Youth Family Enhancement Act for willfully causing a child to be in need of intervention.
The same charge was laid against the mother of the seven-month-old infant reported unsupervised on Wednesday. In that incident, the responding officer was able to unlock the doors by reaching in the partially open window.
Willits pointed out that in both incidents, someone was able to easily access the child and remove him from the vehicle. “These events could have ended a lot worse if the wrong person had come along.”