Police have charged a woman after she allegedly left her three-year-old unattended in a vehicle to go shopping at Katoomba early this week.
Just before 6pm on Monday, January 13 police were called to the underground car park near the Coles shopping complex in Parke Street. They located the girl, seated in a baby capsule in the back seat of the vehicle, with the windows closed and car locked.
The child didn't respond to police knocking on the window and calling out so they smashed the rear window of the Subaru to gain access.
Police were still trying to wake the child and cool her down when her mother arrived.
The three-year-old was taken by ambulance to Katoomba Hospital and released later that night.
The 29-year-old mother from Katoomba was charged with leave child/young person unattended in motor vehicle causing harm or emotional distress. She was issued with a field court attendance notice to appear in at Katoomba Local Court on Monday, March 3.
Police have reminded motorists, especially during the current hot weather, that it is against the law to leave a child locked in a car unattended and that they can be fined up to $22,000 under the Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection) Act.
Last year, 19 people were charged for causing distress or injury after leaving a child in a vehicle.