Child safety expert warns against leaving kids in car after southeast side kidnapping
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Experts are warning against leaving children in cars under any circumstances after two infants were kidnapped in a stolen vehicle late Monday morning.
Arvey Levinsohn is the owner of A&H Childproofers. He says leaving a child alone in a car under any circumstance is dangerous.
“If an adult is not there to be with them it becomes a very serious danger,” Levinsohn said.
Sgt. William Young, a public information officer with IMPD, said, “It is not a good idea, and I’m not saying this is what the case was in this particular incident, but it’s not a good idea to let your car warm up as we go into our winter months, especially when you have a child.”
IMPD did not share the exact nature of how the two infant girls were kidnapped, just that they were taken in a stolen vehicle last since on the southeast side around 11:30 a.m. The girls had been dumped and found in a ditch by a man walking to pick up a package, and rescued shortly after noon.
Levinsohn says infants, toddlers, and kids cannot stay as warm as adults and teens. “They lose heat very quickly and hypothermia could set in,” Levinsohn said.
Levinsohn says if you leave your vehicle unlocked with your child inside, then “obviously, someone may steal the baby.”
“If you also have a child that’s old enough to unlatch themselves, a two-year-old, a three-year-old, they can crawl up into the front seat shift the car into drive and the car will take off,” he added.
Indiana State Police Sgt. John Perrine says Indiana does not have a specific law about leaving children in the car while it is on, but that does not mean it is legal.
“When somebody is neglectful and leaves a child into a car that does fall under the neglect of a dependent statute or maybe some of the others,” Perrine said.
Levinsohn reminds caregivers to never leave a child in a hot car as a car can reach over 100 degrees in just minutes.
An infant boy was kidnapped in a stolen vehicle on Nov. 20 near 79th Street and Ditch Road. He was also quickly located and reunited with his parents.