CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — A woman was arrested last week by the Corpus Christi Police Department for leaving her toddler unattended in a running car.
According to Texas law, a guardian cannot leave a child in a motor vehicle for longer than five minutes if the child is younger than seven years old, or not attended by someone who is 14-years of age or older.
CCPD Sr. officer Jennifer Collier said that the woman was arrested on a charge called, "abandonment with intent to return."
"So they felt the child being left in the vehicle was putting the child in danger," she said.
Collier said that parents should never leave their child unattended, even if it's for a brief moment.
"We don't want you to leave your child in the car, we want you to take them in," she said.
Collier said leaving a child unattended in a car presents a crime of opportunity, something she said can happen in the blink of an eye.
"You see national news where parents ran into a gas station to go in and grab something and their car was gone. Their car was stolen by somebody and their kids are in the backseat," she said.
Driscoll Children's Hospital Injury Prevention Supervisor Amber Strealy said that she recommends that no child be left unattended, however, age does play a role when it comes to situational awareness.
"Babies and toddlers are helpless, they cant verbalize 'I'm hot, I need to get out.' They can't open up their chest clip and crotch buckle to get themselves out of the car seat, whereas an older kid might be able to," she said.
Strealy said that if a child is left unattended, she does encourage onlookers to help out.
"Call the cops, break a window if need be, but help that child, save that child if need be," she said.