Charges likely after child left in vehicle
Posted Jul 27, 2010 11:46 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Charges are pending against the father of a small child left in the stifling heat of a locked van at the Stoney Nakoda Casino on the weekend.
RCMP say security at the casino spotted the youngster in obvious distress, strapped inside the vehicle about 2:40 Saturday afternoon. It’s estimated to have been around 27 degrees outside.
Emergency crews had to smash a window to get the one-year-old girl out of the vehicle.
She was soaked in sweat and very dehydrated, but despite that RCMP say they were lucky in this case.
“The child is healthy and is going to recover by all assessments at this point,” says Constable Rodney McIntyre. “The person involved, it’s not an instance where it’s someone who normally makes a lot of bad decisions but in this case has made what could have been a very tragic mistake.”
He says he doesn’t know exactly how hot it was in the car, but calls it “extreme conditions.”
While the father is facing abandonment charges, there won’t be any charges against the child’s mother. Police say she was working inside the casino at the time, and had no idea the child was in danger.
