Witness: Mother Who Left 3-Week-Old, Toddler In Hot Car Was More Worried About Breaking Window Than Children

REDLANDS (CBSLA) — A woman is in custody after she left her two small children in her car and refused to break her window to free them.

The incident happened Saturday afternoon at the Mountain Grove Shopping Center in Redlands, where witnesses spotted panicked mother Danielle Sulprizio in the parking lot.

"I overheard her tell her husband on the phone, 'I just locked the kids in the car. I was getting the baby's bottle,'" retail worker Demi Demaio told CBS2 News.

Another worker Moriah Madrid saw a distressed Sulprizio and called 911. That's when she said the mother told her to hang up the phone.

"I was, like, 'I'm not gonna hang up the call,'" Madrid said. She added Sulprizio didn't want to break her car's window to take out the children even though the interior of the vehicle registered a sweltering 138 degress, according to Redlands police.

"I felt like, 'Oh, my God! This baby's dead,'" said Madrid.

Witnesses told Redlands police Cpl. Breanna Herrera the children had been in the car for about 15 minutes when she arrived. She ended up smashing the car window to render aid.

"The newborn, when I reached into the car seat to try to yank it out, he wasn't moving or anything," Madrid said.

"The baby wasn't moving at all. The baby wasn't crying, the baby's eyes were not open, the baby's body was so red.[...] She cared more about her windows than her babies, it was just what got me really upset," Madrid said, appearing to become emotional.

The children were taken to a local hospital and were in stable condition.

Sulprizio was arrested for child endangerment. The children were taken into the custody of Child Protective Services.

Cpl. Herrera and fellow officers were honored by the City of Redlands for their work on Wednesday.

According to KidsAndCars.org, 27 children under the age of 14 have died in hot cars in 2018 alone.