A babysitter faces child cruelty charges for leaving a toddler alone inside a parked car with interior temperatures of nearly 100 degrees, El Segundo police said.
Officers on Tuesday were called just before noon to Plaza El Segundo in the 700 block of S. Sepulveda Boulevard, where a witness reported seeing a child unattended inside a car left with the windows open about two inches, according to the El Segundo Police Department.
Using a temperature gauge, officers measured the interior temperature at 95 degrees. After pulling the child out of the car, they measured the temperature again and in five minutes they said it had risen to 105.
Police found the babysitter inside one of the stores at the plaza. She told them she left the child in the car while she returned some items.
The babysitter was taken into custody on suspicion of cruelty to a child.
The toddler was taken to the hospital to be checked out. He was later released to his parents.
