EDINBURG, Texas (ValleyCentral) — Edinburg police arrested a man and woman accused of leaving their 6-month-old child unattended in an unlocked car, documents revealed.
Alexandra Navarrete and Ismael Esparza were arrested on charges of abandon/endangering a child, according to Hidalgo County Jail records.
A probable cause affidavit stated that at 6:17 p.m. on Oct. 18, an officer was dispatched to Junior’s Supermarket on N. Business 281.
Officers spoke with a man and woman at the scene who said they arrived at the location at 6:10 p.m., and saw the six-month-old child unattended in a vehicle with the doors closed and all the windows rolled up, aside from the driver’s window, the document stated.
The man said the doors were unlocked so he took the child out of the car and attempted to located her parents but was unsuccessful.
He added that Navarrete and Esparza did not return until around 6:35 p.m.
The officer spoke with Navarrete and Esparza, who said they were the parents of the 6-month-old child, as well as a 3-year-old boy. The parents told police they got down with their son but forgot about the girl, thinking the other parent had taken her.
Police reviewed surveillance footage at the store, which showed the parents leave their vehicle at 6:08 p.m., without the child. The two were not seen exiting the store until 6:37 p.m., the affidavit added.
The officer noted that the temperature was 86 degrees at the time he was dispatched. Both Navarrete and Esparza were arrested and transported to the Edinburg City Jail.
Esparza’s bond was set at $15,000, and Navarrete’s was set at $1,000.