A New Jersey mother left her baby boy locked in a hot car while she gambled for hours in a Pennsylvania casino, cops said.
Leola Dualuqua, 37, of Willingboro, was charged with endangering the welfare of a child and leaving a child in an unattended motor vehicle, after allegedly leaving her 14-month-old son alone in the Parx Casino parking lot in Bensalem for more than two hours, cops said.
Officers were called just before 9 p.m. on April 14 after someone spotted the child inside the car.
What cops found was alarming — a baby strapped into a car seat in the back, engine off, windows sealed — while temperatures hovered in the mid-80s.
The child appeared to be sleeping but was sweating, police said.
Cops forced their way into the car and rescued the toddler, who was hot and wearing a filthy diaper, authorities said.
Bensalem EMS rushed the baby to St. Mary Medical Center, where he was later released to his father.
The mom was taken into custody. Investigators determined Dualuqua had left the child in the car around 6:28 p.m.
She was released on bail.
According to the National Safety Council, an average of 37 children under age 15 die each year from heatstroke after being left in a vehicle.
The temperature inside a car can reach over 115 degrees even when the outside temperature is just 70 degrees.