05.16.18 Man Charged with Child Endangerment

 

2018 – 28678 –  On May 16th at 11.44 a.m., officers responded, along with Baytown Fire Department, to a report of a child left in  car at the Kroger located in the 1700 block of North Alexander. Upon arrival, officers found Baytown Fire had successfully made entry into the vehicle and removed the child, an 18 month old female. While on scene an unidentified black male exited the store and appeared to walk towards the vehicle, however he turned around and went back inside the store and a few moments later the owner of the vehicle and father of the child, identified as 24 year old Gene Curry, exited the store and approached the officers. Upon talking with Mr. Curry he told officers he had only been inside the store for approximately ten minutes and appeared to officers to not be overly concerned about the child being left alone in the vehicle. Officers also learned that upon Fire Department personnel arriving on scene they looked in the vehicle and noticed a car seat covered with a blanket in the vehicle but did not immediately see the child, however they noticed the blanket move and heard the baby cry and realized the child was actually covered by the blanket, adding to the concern for the child being left alone inside the hot vehicle, thus forcing Fire Personnel to make entry into the locked vehicle. As officers investigated they determined, through store video, that that Mr. Curry had actually been inside the store and left the child unattended for approximately 18 minutes, almost twice as long as he originally stated. Officers then placed a thermometer inside the vehicle and closed the vehicle for approximately 18 minutes, about how long the child was left in the car, to try to determine how hot the vehicle was while the child was inside. What officers found was  in that time span the temperature inside the vehicle had risen to 112 degrees Fahrenheit, while outside temperature was approximately 90 degrees. Based on this information officers contacted the Harris County District Attorney’s Office and charges of Endangering a Child were accepted on Mr. Curry, who was subsequently transported to the Baytown Jail and booked. The child was examined by EMS and determined to not need any further medical treatment and was therefore released to the child’s paternal grandmother. Mug shot attached.

We were fortunate on this one, our first responders arrived quickly and took quick action to get the child out of the vehicle and cooled off. As the summer months quickly approach and the temps start to rise, here are just a few tips we would like our citizens to keep in mind.

1. It takes about 10 minutes for the temperature in a car to go up 20 degrees Fahrenheit.

2. Cracking a window open and parking in the shade aren’t sufficient safeguards.

3. A child’s body temperature can rise up to five times faster than an adult’s. A child can die with a 107 degree body temperature.

4. Even if it’s in the 60s outside, your car can still heat up to well above 110 degrees.

5. On an 80-degree day, temperatures inside a vehicle can reach deadly peaks in 10 minutes.

PLEASE DO NOT LEAVE YOUR CHILD UNATTENDED IN A VEHICLE!  IT CAN BE DEADLY!