A 3-year-old boy was taken to the hospital Thursday after his mother left him in a freezing cold car in Connecticut for about half an hour, according to police.
Police brought the boy into their cruiser to warm him up after finding him sleeping alone inside a blue Honda Odyssey outside the Shop & Stop at 485 Broad Street in Meriden on Thursday afternoon.
Authorities obtained video footage that shows the Honda entering the store parking lot at 3:42 p.m. Soon after, the child's mother, Blanca Villagomez, 34, is seen entering the store with her 5-year-old daughter, police said. Officers arrived and rescued the boy at about 4:15 p.m.
Police said a witness noticed the boy asleep in the car when she walked into the supermarket to complete a money order. When she went back outside, the boy was crying and "appeared frightened," according to the incident report.
The witness called police and told the boy it would be OK, authorities said.
The temperature outside was 20 degrees when police brought Villagomez back to her car at 4:40 p.m., authorities said.
According to the incident report, Villagomez had also been driving without a license and the car seats were not properly secured within her Odyssey.
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Police said the Department of Children and Families took custody of both the 5-year-old girl and 3-year-old boy and brought them to Midstate Medical Center for evaluation.
Villagomez told investigators she had left her son in the car because he was sleeping and she didn't want to wake him, according to the police report.
She was arrested and charged with second-degree reckless endangerment, risk of injury to a minor, leaving a child under 12 unsupervised and operation of a motor vehicle without a license. The Department of Children and Families was also contacted about the case.
Bond was set at $5,000 ahead of her court appearance Friday.
