NJ toddler saved after 24 minutes in 125-degree car. Dad forgot while helping stranger, attorney says

🚨 The child's father was running errands, his attorney says

🚨 Similar cases in New Jersey in recent years

LAKEWOOD — The father of a toddler charged after his son was found inside a vehicle parked at police headquarters Tuesday afternoon "forgot" about his son after the 2-year-old fell asleep.

Simcha Feldman, 34, was charged by the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office with endangering the welfare of a child after a Lakewood police officer noticed the child in the vehicle with the engine shut off around 3:15 p.m. in the department's headquarters.

The criminal complaint says the temperature was about 95 degrees outside the vehicle and an estimated 125 degrees inside. The child was left in the vehicle for 24 minutes, Lakewood police said.

Father stopped to help somone at kiosk

His attorney, Yosef Jacobovitch, told New Jersey 101.5  that Feldman stopped at a kiosk on Clifton Avenue near Lakewood police headquarters, where Orthodox Jews who do not have internet in their home can conduct business online.  Parking near the kiosk is difficult, according to Jacobovitch.

"At that point, the child had been quiet from when he had left his house, and he immediately forgot that his child was even in the car. He parked the car, he got out, he went into the kiosk, he just checked his email," Jacobovitch said. "An individual there who needed some help accessing his own email, he helped him for a couple minutes, which prolonged the stay inside the kiosk."

Despite charges, family is grateful for police action

Jacobovitch said Feldman and his wife are "extremely grateful" to the Lakewood police officer who noticed the child in the vehicle.

"This is a great, great, great result, the fact that the Lakewood police department caught this. They deserve a tremendous amount of credit. And with that, obviously, he's gonna have to deal with this. This is something that he's gonna have to figure out," Jacobovitch said.

Feldman has been released from the Ocean County Jail and has a court date of Sept. 8. Jacobovitch said a term of his release is that he may not drive with a minor in his vehicle.

Public campaign to remind parents of car danger

Acknowledging this being the third case of a child being left in a hot vehicle in Lakewood since 2024, Jacobovitch said the township has an active campaign targeting parents, including posters in stores and religious centers.

"Everybody puts on their social media. 'Remember, check your backseat,' Jacobovitch said.

Chaveirim of Central Jersey told The Lakewood Scoop that an anonymous donor paid the organization 59 Seconds for hundreds of baby-reminder devices to be handed out in Lakewood on Thursday.

Lakewood is one of the 10 largest municipalities in the state and also has one of the largest concentrations of family households, as well as families of larger sizes.

Jacobovitch also said another possible explanation as to why there are a higher number of these incidents in Lakewood than other communities is larger family sizes.

"If a father has to take a one child to the elementary school, a second child to the play group, a second child to a third child to the babysitter, and perhaps even a fourth child staying home, and something throws off the schedule. It requires a tremendous amount of thought," Jacobovitch said.

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Other children left in hot vehicles

In recent years in New Jersey, several children have been left inside cars.

💔 A 4-month-old baby was found "in distress" inside a parked SUV on March 18. According to the affidavit obtained by New Jersey 101.5, Mosche Ehrlich's wife told investigators that he was tasked with dropping off four of his six children at school, which was one more child than usual, as their 6-year-old son had missed the bus. Ehrlich was charged with endangering the welfare of a child and released from custody. The outdoor temperature that day was 67.8 degrees, but the temperature inside the vehicle was 96.2 degrees, investigators said. Ehrlich was released from custody at Ocean County Jail and is awaiting trial, according to court records.

💔 Avraham Chaitovsky, 28, of Jackson, was charged after an 8-week-old girl was found inside an SUV parked outside the Kollel Cheshek Shlomo on New Egypt Road in Lakewood the afternoon of July 15, 2024.  Temperatures were 98 degrees at 2 p.m. with a heat index of 107 under sunny skies. Chaitovsky pleaded guilty to child endangerment on July 14 and was sentenced to three years of probation.

💔 Two days later on July 17, 2024, Livia Patelli, 33, of Roseland, was charged after a 6-month-old girl was found left in a vehicle for 4-and-a-half hours outside the East Hanover office building where she worked. Investigators said Patelli "forgot" to drop her daughter off at daycare. The child died in a hospital. Her daughter's internal temperature was 109.9 degrees, investigators said. The heat index was 101 degrees at the time the child was discovered. Patelli was released awaiting trial on a charge of endangering the welfare of a child.

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