GLENDALE, Ariz. - A mother is facing child endangerment charges for allegedly leaving her 3-month-old baby in the car while she went grocery shopping.
According to court documents, 27-year-old Jessica Marie Umtuch was arrested for child abuse and endangerment.
Last week, Glendale police responded to a call about a child locked in a car in the parking lot of Fry’s Food and Drug on Bethany Home Road.
When police arrived, they found a 3-month-old baby in the backseat of the car. Officers say the car wasn’t running, all the windows were up and there was no one else inside.
Officers noted it was 114 degrees outside, which heightened their urgency. They busted the front window and were able to get the baby out safely.
The Fry’s manager announced the make and model of the car inside the store and Umtuch went outside.
Court documents show she told police she had forgotten her baby in the car because the child was quietly sleeping.
She also said she had argued with her boyfriend, who is the baby’s father, just before she went to the store. She reportedly told officers she meant to leave the child with her boyfriend at home until he asked her to take him to the bar, which upset her.
Police say she ended up taking the baby with her to the store after dropping her boyfriend off at the bar. She said her mind was in another place and she forgot her baby in the car, police reported.
Store video footage showed the baby was in the car for 16 minutes from the time Umtuch left the car until the time she came out after the announcement in the store.
Umtuch was released and a court date is set later this month.