2-year-old found alone in car, treated for
hypothermia and frostbite

#ColdVehicles are not #BabySitters

THORNTON, CO  –  A 2-year-old boy was left in a car in the cold according to witnesses who said police removed the child from the vehicle in front of businesses at 120th and Washington Saturday morning.  His mother, Nicole Carmon, was under arrest for investigation of Felony Child Abuse according to Thornton police.

Breanna Sanchez works at one of the businesses that used the parking lot where the toddler was found.

She noticed the car when she got to work around 9 a.m.  She thought it was odd because vehicles rarely park in the lot overnight.  She said the entire car was covered in several inches of snow so she couldn’t see that anyone was inside.  She believes based on the snow, that the car was there for most of the night.

“I can’t imagine staying in a car overnight, I’m freezing just standing here,” said Sanchez.

Several hours later, Sanchez said the parking lot was swarming with first responders.

“We just saw a bunch of cop cars and a bunch of firemen and ambulance and stuff and we didn’t quite know what was going on but … it’s very upsetting,” said Sanchez.  “I feel terrible for the kid.  I feel really bad that he sat there all night.  Really, it’s terrible.”

Thornton police spokesman Matt Barnes said Westminster police asked Thornton for help at about 10:40 a.m.  in regards to a child possibly left in a car.

Barnes said they were looking for a 2013 green Ford Fusion that may have been involved in a crash.

He said officers found the car in a parking space at 120th and Washington at about noon and the little boy was inside.

Emergency responders took the two-year-old to the hospital.  He received treatment for hypothermia and frostbite.

Barnes said investigators were interviewing the mother, 26-year-old Nicole Carmon of Westminster.

“Police are investigating the circumstances that led up to the child being left alone inside the vehicle and how long the child was left alone.  The child’s mother has been arrested for investigation of Felony Child Abuse,” Barnes said in a press release.

The condition of the boy was not released.