Dad left infant girl alone, in mall parking lot, in the cold, cops say

JERSEY CITY — Police are investigating why a Bayonne man allegedly left his infant daughter in a unlocked SUV  at the Newport Centre mall with the engine running and the heat turned off.

Jersey City Police said the black Toyota RAV 4  with a crying 15-month-old girl was found by mall security around 11:10 a.m. on Tuesday in the garage at the Jersey City shopping area. As security and police officers checked the car the father, Kevin Taurino, 41, approached and  admitted the vehicle was his and he had only been gone for two minutes,

Police said the temperature at the time was 40 degrees.

Police said Taurino was changed with endangering the welfare of a child and called the Division of Youth & Family Services. The child's mother, whose identity police did not disclose, was given the SUV and his cell phone. She picked up the child at Jersey City Medical Center and found to be OK.

Contact reporter Dan Alexander at Dan.Alexander@townsquaremedia.com.
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