Shreveport woman arrested after child found in hot car in casino parking garage
SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS) – A six-year-old is in the hospital and a woman is in jail after police say she left the child unattended in a car in a downtown Shreveport casino parking garage Wednesday.
Police say the windows were rolled up and the car was not running when a passerby spotted the child in the car in the Bally casino parking garage around 1:30 p.m. and called security.
The Shreveport Fire Department was called to the scene to check on the child, who was brought to a nearby hospital for treatment and is expected to recover.
The child is believed to have been left alone in the car for up to an hour.
Police say 49-year-old Kit Yu is the child's guardian and was responsible for leaving the child in the vehicle.
Yu, who has a part-time job at the casino, was taken into custody when she returned to the car about an hour after the child was discovered and taken to the hospital. She is charged with one count of child desertion. Bond on the misdemeanor charge has not been set.
Police say the child was placed in the custody of a family member.
"The Shreveport Police Department reminds citizens not to leave children inside vehicles even on mild or cloudy days because of the extreme temperatures that can be reached within a closed vehicle," SPD said in a statement on the arrest. "Children should never be left unattended or be able to get inside a vehicle."
According to the national nonprofit KidsandCars.org, 11 children in the United States have died from hot cars as of July 1.