Mother charged after leaving 1-year-old in car on Staten Island: NYPD

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. (PIX11) — A mom is accused of leaving her 1-year-old baby in a car on one of the warmest days of the season in New York City, police said.

Grace Zheng, 33, allegedly left her baby inside an unlocked car to go shopping at a Staten Island ShopRite located on Hylan Boulevard and Beach Avenue at around 11:15 a.m. Monday, according to authorities. Zheng didn’t want to wake the baby up to go into the supermarket, and left the child unattended for 40 minutes, police sources said.

Concerned onlookers noticed the baby and called 911, authorities said. The first caller, a 61-year-old man who goes by the name “Cosmo,” stayed with the child until police arrived, police sources said.

Cops said that the baby was “hot and sweating.” First responders took the child to Staten Island University Hospital North for treatment, authorities said.

Zheng was arrested and charged with endangering the welfare of a child, police said.

Charline Charles is a digital journalist from Brooklyn who has covered local news along with culture and arts in the New York City area since 2019. She joined PIX11 News in 2022. See more of her work here .

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