Kentucky Father Arrested After Son Left in Hot Car
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Photodisc/Digital Vision/Thinkstock(LONDON, Ky.) — A Kentucky father has been arrested for allegedly leaving his 2-year-old son inside a hot car parked outside his office.
Kenneth Robinson, 31, told police he got distracted on Monday and drove straight to work instead of dropping off the boy at daycare. The toddler was strapped in the backseat as the temperature hit 100 degrees in the car in London, Ky. One of Robinson’s co-workers noticed the boy more than two hours later and made a frantic call to police.
“I need an ambulance at Patton-Chestnut and Binder ASAP. A child was left in the car,” the co-worker said. “Is he breathing? Is he breathing? Yes, he’s breathing.”
Witnesses say the boy was alert in the backseat, but his face was red before being rushed to the hospital. Robinson told police it was a terrible mistake.
This is not an uncommon story during the hot summer months. A Massachusetts woman was charged last week with reckless endangerment for leaving her 5-month-old niece in the car for hours. The baby survived.
Thirty-three children died of hypothermia in the United States last year after being left in a vehicle; six have already died this year. Half of the children were forgotten in the vehicle by a caregiver.
Robinson’s story didn’t end in tragedy and he pleaded not guilty at his arraignment on Wednesday. He faces a felony charge of wanton endangerment and is due back in court on Tuesday for a preliminary hearing.
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