An SUV was towed from a South Jordan apartment complex early Saturday morning with a 5-year-old child sleeping inside.
Police say the mother left her son sleeping inside the car while she was in the San Marino apartment complex. When she went outside to leave, she discovered that her vehicle had been towed with the child still inside. That SUV ended up in a Murray tow lot around 1 a.m. Saturday.
Officers aren't blaming the tow truck driver, but the mother. Police say she parked in a handicap spot without proper handicap stickers while visiting a friend at the complex and left her son sleeping in the vehicle. The complex has contracts with local tow companies for vehicles who park in the wrong spot and the woman's vehicle was towed. Since the SUV has tinted windows, the tow truck driver didn't know the boy was in the vehicle.
"Would you expect to find a child in the back of a vechicle at one in the morning? A resonable person would not," said Sgt. Eric Anderson, South Jordan Police Dept.
She claims she only left her child in the car for five minutes, and police are now investigating her story, saying she may face child neglect charges.
"I've never seen this in the ten years I've been in law enforcement," said Anderson. "A child is pretty precious and for someone to leave them in the back of the car reguardless of whether it's five minutes or more, is pretty serious."
The boy was found at the Murray lot still asleep in the back of the vehicle, with no idea what had happened.
"No injuries. He was fine; he was still sleeping. He was returned to his mother," said Anderson.
Police may push the district attorney for child neglect charge, a misdemeanor that can come with a fine. But unless charges are filed, police won't be releasing the name of the woman.
