MESA, AZ (AZFamily) — A mother faces felony charges after she left a 4-year-old girl in a hot car while she was at a store during extreme heat on Saturday, according to police.
According to court documents, two people saw the girl locked alone in the car with the windows rolled up and the engine off at around 7:45 p.m. in the shopping center on the corner of Stapley Drive and Southern Avenue and called police.
When officers arrived, the mother, Nicole Dawn Yazzie, came out of a store, unlocked the car and opened the right rear passenger door, court records say.
An officer saw that the girl was sweating heavily in the car and took her out of the car.
According to court documents, the victim was disoriented, pale and had apparently wet himself.
She was wearing a short-sleeved shirt and long cotton pants, the officer said.
Court documents show that it was 43 degrees outside and police calculated that it was 52 degrees inside the car.
The child received water and medical care on site and was then placed in an air-conditioned police car.
The documents show that Yazzie intentionally put the girl in the car because the child did not want to go to the store.
She also allegedly admitted not starting the engine because she “didn’t want her daughter to drive away,” police said.
According to court documents, the woman also said she knew it was wrong to leave her daughter in the car.
Yazzie was charged with child abuse.
Her bail was set at $15,000.
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