West Des Moines Woman Cited After Allegedly Leaving Crying Baby in Locked Vehicle

A 33-year-old West Des Moines mom faces child endangerment charges after allegedly leaving her 10-month-old son in a locked car for more than half an hour while she shopped at Whole Foods Market Monday evening.

Officer Amanda St. George wrote in a report on file at the West Des Moines Police Department that she was on the scene for about half an hour before the tot’s mother returned to the parking lot.

Police were dispatched to the parking lot about 7:45 p.m. by a passerby, who reported a crying baby inside the locked vehicle. The child’s mother didn’t come out of the store until 8:25 p.m., according to the report. St. George said temperatures were cool, so she wasn’t worried about heat-related illnesses, but the child seemed to be experiencing distress and continued to cry.

When the baby’s mom, who police said had her 10-year-old child in tow, saw the police officer standing next to her vehicle, “she started running toward me and saying ‘Oh my God,’” St. George wrote.

The woman reportedly said several times that she “did not think she was in the store very long,” St. George wrote. “I told her that I had arrived over a half hour prior to her coming out of the store. She said she did not think it was that long.”

After St. George wrote the citation, the woman was released. The Iowa Department of Human Services was notified.