An unidentified mother was arrested on the first day of summer in the University Heights section of The Bronx after she allegedly left her two kids in a double-parked vehicle that was turned off as the temperature hovered around 90 degrees, outside the vehicle.

 

The incident was reported at 10 a.m. on Thursday, June 20, outside of 86 West 183rd Street at University Avenue. Officers from both the 46^th Precinct and the 52^nd Precinct responded and upon arrival, were observed talking to the children, a boy and a girl. [At 10 a.m. on Thursday, the outside temperature was 85 degrees according to Accuweather, but it felt like 93 degrees.]

 

According to one witness at the scene, the mother, who was wearing what looked to be hospital scrubs, had earlier been observed leaving the vehicle double parked and walking west along West 183rd Street.

Later, as police talked to the mother, Norwood News observed her young daughter hysterically crying, leaving the car and running to hug her mother. The mother was then observed walking the young girl back to the car and speaking with paramedics before again joining the five police officers. The officers then walked her to the corner, where she was placed in handcuffs and put in a patrol vehicle.

 

Detective Greg Greene of the NYPD’s press office later told Norwood News in response to some follow-up questions on the incident, “It was a lady; she was arrested. There were two children in the car, a 7-year-old and a 10-year-old. The A.C. in the car was not on at the time.”

 

According to Greene, a call to 911 from a “third-party” brought EMS to the scene who arrived at 9:50 a.m., and police arrived 10 minutes later. Greene continued, “Eventually the mom came back to the scene. Both children were taken to the hospital for precautionary reasons to St. Barnabas (Hospital.)” He added, “Everything was fine; nothing was wrong with the children.”

Asked how police got into the apparently locked vehicle, Greene responded, “I don’t think it was open. I think it was locked and then not too clear on how they got it open. I don’t know if it was one of the kids.”

 

When asked how long the kids were left in the car alone, Greene replied, “I’m not sure how long before EMS got there. I know that we were there shortly after EMS.”

 

Greene could not immediately say what the mother was charged with, adding, “The charges should be coming down in a few minutes.”

 

The location of the incident is less than a half a mile away from the James J. Peters Veterans Affairs Medical Center on West Kingsbridge Road in Fordham Manor, where on July 26, 2019, Juan Rodriguez, a Rockland County resident mistakenly left his two children in an unattended car. Luna and Phoenix Rodriguez, both 1, were declared dead at the scene seveal hours later, as reported.

On July 23, 2020, the Bronx District Attorney announced that Rodriguez pleaded guilty to second degree reckless endangerment and was given a one-year conditional discharge, as also reported.

 

Norwood News was unable to reach the mother for comment prior to her arrest. We will continue to monitor this developing story and will update it as more information becomes available.