A Massachusetts man has been summonsed on reckless child endangerment charges after allegedly leaving his three young children inside of a car without any heat on a cold January afternoon while he was in court attending to matters.
Newton Police say the man, a 38-year-old Framingham resident whose name has not been released, left his 5-year-old boy, 3-year-old girl and 9-month-old baby girl in a Honda Accord without any heat for more than a hour.
According to police, witnesses called police around 4 p.m. Tuesday after noticing the three children left alone in the car parked in a municipal parking lot on Washington Street.
Police say when an officer arrived, he spoke to the oldest child, who had his baby sister in his lap and told the officer he didn't know where his father was. The children were cold and appeared scared, and the temperature outside at the time was 23 degrees, according to police.
The responding officer also asked EMS to come and evaluate the children, and recommended that the children be taken to Newton Wellesley Hospital.
Police say the children's father did not show up until about 4:10 p.m., and asked what was happening when he arrived at the scene.
The man allegedly told police he was only inside Newton Municipal Court for about 10 to 12 minutes, but when an officer inside the court said the man had been in there for more than an hour.
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Police say the man is being summonsed for reckless endangerment of a child, which is an misdemeanor.
