HARRIS COUNTY, Texas – A woman has been arrested after deputies say she left her 4-year-old daughter unattended inside a parked vehicle while shopping at a Costco in northwest Harris County.
According to Harris County Precinct 4, deputies responded to the Costco located in the 26900 block of the Northwest Freeway Sunday afternoon after receiving reports of a young child alone inside a vehicle.
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Investigators said the vehicle was off and the child had been inside for roughly half an hour as temperatures climbed. Witnesses pulled the child out and stayed with her until help arrived, deputies said.
Emergency medical personnel evaluated the child at the scene and determined she did not need to be transported to a hospital.
Authorities said the child was later released to another guardian.
The child’s mother, later identified as Vannie Nguyen, was taken into custody without incident and charged with child abandonment with intent to return, according to deputies. Nguyen was booked into the Harris County Jail and awaiting bond.
The investigation remains ongoing.
Precinct 4 officials reminded parents and caregivers that temperatures inside parked vehicles can quickly reach dangerous levels, even when windows are cracked open.
“Never leave a child unattended in a vehicle for any amount of time,” Precinct 4 Constable Mark Herman said in a Facebook post.