Thomas Zehentner
Waterloo police arrested two people Tuesday for separate incidents involving children left alone in parked vehicles.
Temperatures climbed into the 90s in the afternoon, although Waterloo Police Captain Tim Pillack said the children were found at 6:15 p.m. and 10:45 p.m.
“It was a warm day…our concern is not only the heat in the car, but just a little child being left alone in a car is unacceptable,” Pillack said.
The first case involved a three-year-old girl who was left alone for 15 to 20 minutes in a Walgreens parking lot.
The car’s windows were rolled down about a third of the way, according to police. The girl’s father, 29-year-old Thomas Zehentner, is now charged with child endangerment.
Ecstacy Marshall
The second case involved two children left in a van with the windows cracked in a Wal-Mart parking lot. “They were left alone for at least 30 minutes from what we were able to determine from video surveillance,” Pillack said.
A six-month-old boy and a six-year-old girl were in the van. Their mother, 22-year-old Ecstacy Marshall, is charged with two counts of child endangerment. All of the children are said to be doing fine. All of the children were turned over to another family member.