Police: Baby, 2 toddlers saved from hot car in NJ parking lot

EGG HARBOR TOWNSHIP — ​​Three young children were rescued from a parked, locked car on Wednesday afternoon after they were left alone for nearly an hour in the heat, according to township police.

Around 2:48 p.m., officers responded to reports of the children — ages 3, 1 and 5 months old — crying inside the vehicle at the Walmart shopping center in Oak Tree Plaza.

The outside temperature was 86 degrees, police said, adding the car was not running and all windows were closed.

After officers used a lock-out kit, the infant and two toddlers were immediately turned over to Egg Harbor Township EMS for treatment.

Cyndie Jourdain and a 17-year-old female, both of Galloway Township, had been inside the store for 45 minutes at the time the children were found, police said after viewing security camera footage.

Any potential relationship between Jourdain, the teen and the young children was not immediately disclosed as of Thursday.

The children were all taken by ambulance to Atlantic City Medical Center for treatment but were expected to be okay.

The state Division of Child Protection and Permanency were contacted and responded to the hospital.

Jourdain and the teen were arrested and charged with endangering the welfare of a child.

After processing, both were released pending court.

The temperature inside a car can get dangerously hot, even in moderate weather with the windows slightly down, state officials have stressed in their "Not even for a minute" public awareness campaign.

Kids can suffer from heat stroke, which can be fatal.

In 2019, two children in New Jersey died in separate hot car incidents — both just younger than 2, left alone in vehicles in Lakewood and Lindenwold. 

Egg Harbor Township police on Thursday morning issued a thank you to the individuals who had called police and "stood by to be sure the children were safe."

The children's hot car rescue was outside the same Walmart where a teen was accused of starting a fire last week inside the Sporting Good section.

Erin Vogt is a reporter and anchor for New Jersey 101.5. You can reach her at erin.vogt@townsquaremedia.com

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