Foster mom charged after 9-month-old boy left inside hot minivan, cops say
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Knoxville police say Claire Huenefeld has been charged with child endangerment. (Knoxville Police Department)
A 38-year-old woman allegedly left a baby boy in a hot minivan in a Kroger store’s parking lot, WBIR reported.
Foster mother Claire Huenefeld was arrested and charged with child endangerment, according to police in Knoxville, Tenn.
Authorities detailed the incident in a weekend Facebook post.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Knoxville police wrote that officers got the call on Saturday night.
“According to witness statements and the investigation, a female spotted the 9-month old male infant strapped in a carseat alone with the windows closed and the engine not running,” said police, adding that she called 911 and told the store manager.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“The manager quickly grabbed cold water and towels and ran to the van with the female,” according to authorities, who said that they went inside the unlocked vehicle.
The manager and the witness, cops said, “immediately gave the child water as well as dousing the child with the water to cool him down. The temperature at the time was 90 degrees.”
Knoxville police say a woman who came back to the vehicle didn’t recall having that the baby being with her
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“At the time of the incident the child was in the temporary custody of the foster parent,” they explained.
The Department of Child Services took the child, according to WBIR.