WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (WPEC) – A close call for a family in south Florida almost ended in tragedy.
A father on his cellphone went inside a store to go Mother’s Day shopping and forgot his young daughter in the car, according to authorities.
The 3-year-old girl was eventually reunited in her mother’s arms after an incident that police said was 100% preventable.
Police body camera video shows the arrest of 42-year-old Raul Rielo-Fernandez after a customer found his toddler alone inside his SUV with the windows up and the engine off in the Sam’s Club parking lot off 45th Street in West Palm Beach last Saturday.
It was a scorching hot day.
“Good Samaritans apparently opened the car, it was unlocked, took the child out of the car seat,” Mike Jachles, West Palm Beach police spokesperson, said. “When they found the girl, she was profusely sweating. She was red, flushed and crying.”
That person alerted a police officer who happened to be nearby.
The father was nowhere to be found.
“Fernandez totally forgot that he left his daughter in the car,” Jachles stated. “He went inside, apparently to do Mother’s Day shopping. That’s what he told police.”
Fernandez can be seen on surveillance video behind the wheel of a black SUV pulling into the parking lot.
Seconds later, he is seen walking inside on his cellphone, but without the toddler. He shops, and minutes later, he is in the line to check out.
“And then after he checks out, he goes into the liquor store for several minutes, leaves the liquor store, proceeds back towards his car, sees the commotion and that’s when he realized he apparently left his daughter in the car,” Jachles said.
Fernandez was arrested and charged with leaving the child in a car for more than 15 minutes and child neglect, which is a third-degree felony.
“She was in the car, it was determined, for about 31 minutes; not 15 like the father said,” Jachles added. “So, you can imagine how hot it was. Certainly, it could’ve been deadly for that child.”
Jachles said the temperature in the car rose to at least 117 degrees Fahrenheit.
Heat-related illnesses, like heatstroke, happen when one’s body temperature reaches 104 degrees. It can lead to death and children are more at risk, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Last year, 29 children died nationwide from vehicular heatstroke.
“People just need to stay focused,” Jachles said. “The last thing you hate to see is a child that dies because they were left in a hot car.”
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