New Jersey

Woman Accused of Leaving 3 Kids in Hot SUV While Shopping at NJ Walmart

The children were taken to Atlantic City Medical Center and are expected to be OK.

NBC Universal, Inc.

A woman and a teen girl are accused of leaving a toddler and two babies inside a hot SUV with the windows closed for 45 minutes while they shopped at a New Jersey Walmart. 

On Wednesday around 2:45 p.m., police responded to the Walmart shopping center at the Oak Tree Plaza in Egg Harbor Township for a report of three crying young children locked inside a vehicle. The temperature at the time was approximately 86 degrees Fahrenheit. 

When police arrived, they found a 3-year-old child, 1-year-old baby and 5-month-old baby locked inside an SUV that was not running with all of the windows closed. 

"I could see them screaming. I could see them sweating profusely," Officer Tom Rizzotte told NBC10.

Rizzotte used a lock out kit to unlock a door and free the children.

"It felt like you were standing near a brick oven," Rizzotte said.

The children were immediately turned over to Egg Harbor Township EMS for treatment.

"They put them into the ambulance to cool off in the air conditioning," Rizzotte said. "They gave them ice and water."

The children were then taken to Atlantic City Medical Center and are expected to be okay. The Division of Child Protection and Permanency also responded to the hospital. 

Investigators determined through security footage that a woman, identified as 24-year-old Cyndie Jourdain of Galloway Township, as well as a 17-year-old girl, had been inside the Walmart for 45 minutes while the children were inside the vehicle.

Police told NBC10 Jourdain is the mother of two of the children while the teen was supposed to be watching the third child. Jourdain and the teen were arrested and charged with endangering the welfare of a child. They were processed and then released pending a court appearance. 

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