Published: May 28, 2009 08:33 pm      

Mother arrested after daughter found in 105-degree vehicle

BLUEFIELD, Va. — A Tazewell County, Va. woman was arrested and charged with child endangerment Thursday after her daughter was found alone in a vehicle with an interior temperature of 105 degrees.

Tazewell County 911 dispatchers sent first responders to the Wal-Mart parking lot in Bluefield, Va. 1:37 p.m. after passersby found a little girl inside a car, said Officer C.L. McCroskey of the Bluefield, Va. Police Department.

Witnesses had opened the car, which had been left unlocked, when responders arrived, McCroskey said.

“The child was sweating profusely,” McCroskey said. “She was hot to the touch.”

The car’s windows were rolled up, he said.

Tommy Carroll of the Bluefield, Va. Rescue Squad said the car’s interior temperature was 105 degrees when measured. The child did not have to be transported to a hospital, he added.

The girl, who will be 3 years old in June, was in a car seat and could not open the doors or windows. When the child’s mother was located, she said she had been away only a few minutes, but additional investigation showed that she had been in the store approximately 55 minutes, McCroskey said.

McCroskey did not release the mother’s name Thursday and said the investigation was still ongoing. No other people had been riding with the mother and child.

The mother was arrested, charged with child endangerment, and was later released on an unsecured bond after being arraigned before Magistrate Kevin McGlothlin, McCroskey said. A subpoena will later be issued for her to appear in Tazewell County Court, he said.

Tazewell County Child Protective Services was notified. The girl was later released to her great-grandmother, McCroskey said.

— Contact Greg Jordan at gjordan@bdtonline.com