A Pennsylvania mother was arrested after she allegedly left her baby alone inside a freezing minivan while taking another child to get a haircut.
Allentown police said Mirella Rodriguez, 23, left her 1-year-old inside the minivan without a blanket on even though the temperature outside Tuesday was 20 degrees with a wind chill of 9 degrees, The Morning Call reported. The baby was in the car for at least half an hour.
A parking authority officer saw the sleeping child inside the minivan at around 2:30 p.m. Tuesday and alerted law enforcement. Less than an hour earlier, witnesses said they saw Rodriguez checking on the Mercury Villager parked on St. John Street several times and then walked off, police told The Morning Call.
Rodriquez was found at a nearby barbershop where she took a 3-year-old to get a haircut.
She was charged with endangering the welfare of a child and was released after posting $500 bail, the newspaper reported.
Rodriguez posted a Facebook message slamming authorities for overreacting and saying she would never harm her baby, according to the Associated Press.
