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Mother Arrested For Child Cruelty After Leaving Baby Alone On Sidewalk
Police arrested a woman after she allegedly left her 2-year-old baby girl alone on a busy intersection in Arlington Heights on Monday.
A man working at a nearby bakery notified LAPD around 2:30 a.m. when he saw a baby stroller left unattended on the sidewalk at Western Ave. and Washington Blvd., according to NBC Los Angeles. He watched closely for 15 minutes and decided to call authorities when there was no sign of an adult.
When the mother arrived at the scene, police arrested her under suspicion of child abandonment, but increased the charge to child cruelty considering how late and cold it was at the time. KTLA reported that it was 52 degrees Fahrenheit that evening.
The baby girl was unharmed from sitting in the cold, but was taken to the Department of Child and Family Services. Police do not know why the mother left her child on the sidewalk or how long the baby was alone there. Also, authorities did not believe the mother was under the influence of drugs or alcohol.