Halton Regional Police have charged a Toronto father with child abandonment after his nine-month-old daughter was left alone in a hot car outside a big-box store in Oakville.
Officers were called to the parking lot of a Home Depot on Bristol Circle on Sunday after passersby noticed the infant in the locked car.
The father returned to the vehicle after an in-store announcement about the child, and he was “berated” by a group of angry people who gathered around the parked vehicle, police said.
After spending about 10 to 15 minutes in the vehicle, the baby was sweating profusely and crying.
She was deemed to be OK and released to her mother after being examined at the scene by paramedics.
The father was charged and then released from custody, police announced Tuesday.
Police did not release his name in an effort to protect his daughter’s identity.
In response to the incident, police are reminding parents and caregivers not to leave children in unattended vehicles in the heat because it may result in serious injury or death.
The temperature inside a car can heat up quickly. When the outside air temperature is 23 C, the temperature inside a vehicle can be more than 50 C, Toronto Public Health warns.
Opening a window slightly does not keep the temperature at a safe level, the agency says.
This week, temperatures are expected to be in the low 30s, but it will feel more like 40 with the humidity.
Anyone who spots a child alone in a hot car should call 911 immediately, police said.
On Monday, a mother accidentally locked her keys in her car with her child in a Vaughan parking lot, police said.
She was looking for help when passersby smashed a window to free the child.
Toronto Public Health suggests people carry a spare key, just in case.
Last month, a two-year-old Milton boy died after he was left unattended in a hot car behind his family's home. Police later charged his grandmother.
With files from The Canadian Press.
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