17-Year-Old Arrested for Leaving 2 Kids in Hot Car for a ‘Starbucks Run’

A 17-year-old girl was arrested for leaving two children inside a hot car in Arizona, according to reports.

KTAR News reported that the girl allegedly left the children, ages 4 and 8, in the car, which was not running, for about 20 minutes. Reports said that she left them to get something at Starbucks, Fox10 reported.

Sgt. Vince Lewis with the Phoenix Police Department said that the children weren’t injured, but they were hot and a “little sweaty” even though the windows were only slightly rolled down. They weren’t taken to a nearby hospital.

“We are happy they were not injured, but it could have been a lot worse,” he said.

Temperatures in Phoenix reached 110 degrees Fahrenheit on Monday, according to The Weather Channel.

Police also found drugs in the vehicle. The girl was then arrested for child endangerment, Fox10 reported.

Police told Fox10 that the children are safe and with their family members.

Officials are looking at filing child endangerment charges against the girl. “It’s important to remember…[Arizona] is a beautiful state, but conditions inside of a parked car can soar well above surivivable limits in mere moments,” Lewis told KTAR.

“There is no acceptable amount of time to leave passengers in a parked car,” he said.

On average, according to advocacy website Kids and Cars, “37 children die from heat-related deaths after being trapped inside vehicles. Even the best of parents or caregivers can unknowingly leave a sleeping baby in a car; and the end result can be injury or even death.”

In 2016, 39 children across the United States died because they were left inside a hot car, according to the website No Heat Stroke. In a 19-year-period, when more than 700 children died of heatstroke inside cars, 54 percent of caretakers said they “forgot” that the child was there.

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