NJ dad left 3-year-old in car for 3 hours in Saturday’s blistering heat, cops say
EGG HARBOR TOWNSHIP — An Atlantic City man was arrested after, police say, they found his 3-year-old son left alone in a hot car for three hours — while the man was in a local restaurant.
Brandon Morgan, 32, was charged with endangering the welfare of a child. He was processed and released on a summons with a date to appear in court.
Egg Harbor Township police responded around 1:30 a.m Saturday, to the Chickie's and Pete's in the English Creek Center shopping center in the Cardiff section of town, police said.
The young child already was removed from the vehicle by bystanders before an officer arrived, according to police.
Police said the boy had been left unattended, inside the parked car amid 85-degree weather while his father was inside the business.
Egg Harbor Township Ambulance Squad EMTs found the child to be in good health.
The boy was turned over to his mother, who had responded to the scene.
"A child's body heats up three to five times faster than an adult's body. On a 95-degree day, a car can heat up to over 180 degrees. And it only takes temperatures at 104 degrees for internal organs to start to shut down. So even in a matter of moments we can have a catastrophe on our hands," AAA/Mid-Atlantic spokeswoman Tracy Noble previously told New Jersey 101.5.
The temperature at Atlantic City International Airport, in Egg Harbor Township, was 84 degrees at the time of the incident, according to Chief Meteorologist Dan Zarrow, who also said the heat index was at 92.
A similar case ended in tragedy two months ago, when a 21-month-old girl died after being left alone inside a hot car in Lakewood. The victim's mother has been charged with endangering the welfare of a child by the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office.
According to NoHeatStroke.org, 816 children have died due to pediatric vehicular heatstroke since 1998.
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