MESA, AZ — A woman is behind bars after intentionally leaving her child in a hot car outside of a shopping center in Mesa last weekend.
Police say the incident occurred during an Excessive Heat Warning on Saturday near Stapley Drive and Southern Avenue.
According to police documents, two witnesses alerted police when they noticed a small child inside a locked vehicle with the windows and doors closed.
The child reportedly appeared “distressed” and “disoriented,” and was “excessively sweating,” police documents show.
Police say the outside temperature at the time was 110º and the temperature inside the car reached around 129º.
Videos in the player above highlight safety information regarding hot cars and excessive heat.
Officers were able to remove the child, identified as being four years old, from the vehicle and she was treated at the scene. Documents say the child suffered "preliminary heat exhaustion."
A 32-year-old woman told police she had placed the child in the car because she didn’t want to walk inside the store. She reportedly left the car off so the child wouldn’t drive away and admitted to leaving the child in the locked car without air-conditioning and adult supervision.
She was booked into jail on one felony count of child abuse.
SAFETY TIPS: Excessive heat awareness: Surviving the number one weather-related killer in Arizona
