Five tips for keeping your children safe in the car during the hot summer months
As the middle of summer approaches, hot cars can be fatal to children and pets trapped inside after just an hour.
Claire Hardwick, Cody Goodwin and Ariana Triggs, USA TODAY
An Indiana couple is facing felony charges after allegedly leaving two children in a car while shopping, where police say the temperature inside was 104 degrees Fahrenheit.
Lawrence police reported that officers were called to a retail store on Monday after a passerby saw the children in distress in an SUV and called 911.
According to a police report obtained by USA TODAY, the incident occurred around 7 p.m. outside a Walmart northeast of Indianapolis.
The high temperature in the city reached 93 degrees that day, the National Weather Service reported.
According to the report, the children – including a toddler – were left in a locked Ford Edge without starter or air conditioning while store cameras showed their parents shopping in the store for nearly 45 minutes.
Officers reported finding one child “sweating heavily on the head and neck,” while the other “appeared calm and dazed and not sweating at all.”
Tips to avoid summer tragedies: Children dying from overheated cars can happen in any family
Parents arrested for child neglect
Two adults who arrived in their SUV at about the same time were arrested at the scene, the report said, and booked into the Marion County Jail on two counts each of neglect of a person in need of assistance.
Their children were handed over to the care of the youth welfare office, the report says.
“We are pleased to report that the children are doing well and the situation has had the best possible outcome,” said Captain Michael Sostre of the Lawrence Police Department.
Children who have died in overheated cars since 1990
Sostre said the case was still under investigation Thursday and the Marion County District Attorney’s Office had filed formal charges.
It was initially unclear whether the children’s parents had hired a lawyer.
According to kidsandcars.org, at least 1,085 children have died in overheated cars in the United States since 1990, including at least two this year alone.
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See a child or pet in a vehicle? Call 911, police say
Although the agency is not investigating the case, Indianapolis police posted a link on X Thursday morning reminding people never to leave pets or children in their cars on hot days.
“Temperatures inside an unattended vehicle can reach over 115 degrees when it is only 70 degrees outside!” the agency wrote. “If you see a child or pet in a vehicle, call 911 immediately.”
The Indiana State Police also warned on their Facebook page about the deadly consequences of overheated cars.
“The Indiana State Police Bloomington District would like to remind parents and pet owners in Indiana of the extreme dangers of high temperatures and of leaving an unattended child and/or pet in a hot vehicle. Never leave an unattended child or pet in a vehicle, even with the windows cracked, and make it a habit to check the entire vehicle before leaving.”
Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior reporter at USA TODAY. Reach her at [email protected] and follow her on X at @nataliealund.
