Passaic woman charged after leaving tot in SUV

16 07 2008

A 33-year-old Passaic woman was charged with endangering the welfare of a child yesterday after she accidentally left a toddler inside her SUV for about three hours in Clifton, police said.

The 2-year-old boy, also of Passaic, was not breathing and had al most no pulse when she finally no ticed him and got help, but the toddler was expected to fully recover, Clifton Detective Sgt. Robert Bracken said last night.

Meira Lebovitz spent part of the day carpooling six children, including several of her own. Later, after dropping off five of the children, she stopped at the Home Depot in Clifton at about 2 p.m., not realizing the 2-year-old was still asleep in the back, the detective said.

While in the store parking lot on Bloomfield Avenue, Lebovitz suddenly noticed she had forgotten to drop off one child, who had fallen asleep in the rear of her Chevrolet Suburban sport utility vehicle, Bracken said. Lebovitz, a friend of the boy’s family, rushed the child into the store, the detective said.

The child was dehydrated, had a temperature of 102.6 degrees Fahrenheit, was not breathing and did not have a noticeable pulse, Bracken said. The boy ap peared to have advanced heat stroke, he said.

Two customers in the store began cardiopulmonary resuscitation on the child as they waited for emergency rescue crews, according to the detective. Nj.com