Police: Toddler Left In Car While Mother Shopped In Burlington County
By Diana Rocco
MOORESTOWN, N.J. (CBS) - It's an Eyewitness News exclusive – a toddler is left unattended in the backseat of a car in a Burlington County shopping center. An Eyewitness News viewer pulls out his phone, calls police and snaps a few pictures.
They are startling pictures of a two-year-old child alone, locked in the backseat of a car and crying.
"No, you don't do that. It's ridiculous!" said one surprised shopper.
Police say the child's mother was inside the Moorestown Marshalls shopping and left her child alone for 20 to 30 minutes.
"The child was clean dressed and in good health...he was upset and crying," said police.
An Eyewitness News viewer took pictures concerned for the child's safety and called police wondering where the boy's parent had gone.
It was another shopper who heard the child crying looked in the back seat saw the two-year-old and quickly calling 911.
"The child was indeed locked in the car and the officer reached in and we had the mother paged from the department store," said Sgt. James Dever of the Moorestown Police Department.
The child's mother, a woman in her late 30's, returned and was given a warning not to do it again. The matter is now being referred to the Department of Youth and Family Services.
"I think something is wrong with her." one shopper said.
"I think it's awful. Never do something like that," said Michael McGinley who has a one-year-old daughter.
Outraged shoppers and parents couldn't imagine leaving a toddler alone in a parking lot for a moment.
"What if something happen to the kid?That person should be held accountable for what they did," McGinley said.
