Police: Mother left 1-year-old boy and 3-year-old girl in car outside Green Acres Mall in Valley Stream
Authorities say they were called to a car parked outside Green Acres Mall Tuesday.
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UPDATE: On May, 7, 2024, a Nassau district court judge dismissed the charges against Lotanna Adjaero.
A Queens woman is facing child endangerment charges for leaving two young children by themselves inside a car in Valley Stream, police say.
Authorities say they were called to a car parked outside Green Acres Mall Tuesday. When they got there, they found a 1-year-old boy and 3-year-old girl inside an unlocked car that was running.
Officers were able to get the children out, and they were taken to the hospital to make sure they were OK.
"Most of the cars were locked, except they found one door was ajar that they were able to open," says Nassau County Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder. "All the windows were rolled up. Somehow in the process the children turned on the heat in the car, so the heat was actually going in the vehicle when the police officers got there.
Detectives say their mother, 25-year-old Lotanna Adjaero, was the one who left them unattended.
In court papers, the kids were described as being lethargic, dehydrated and disoriented. The documents also say a security supervisor at the mall said there were shirts over the rear windows of the car. The security supervisor said the little girl looked disoriented and that he gave her water.
"Just a little data, a little fact: If it's 80 degrees out, and the car is locked and the windows are closed for up to 20 minutes the car becomes 109 degrees inside," says Ryder. "If it's 40 minutes, the car becomes 118 degrees. These children were estimated to be in the car for one hour. That puts the temperature in that vehicle about 123 degrees."
Adjaero is charged with endangering the welfare of a child. She was released on her own recognizance.
An order of protection was issued requiring Adjaero to refrain from all acts that create an unreasonable risk to the health, safety or welfare of both children.
