Cops: Dix Hills mom left kids in car

BY CHRISTINE ARMARIO | christine.armario@newsday.com

8:40 PM EDT, May 7, 2008

Jennifer C. Sanders, 33, of Dix Hills, was charged with two counts of endangering the welfare of a child, a misdemeanor, after police said she left her two children in the car while she went into a grocery store. (May 8, 2008)

A Dix Hills woman was arrested on charges of leaving her two young children alone in a car while she went into a Stop & Shop on Jericho Turnpike Wednesday afternoon, police said.

Second Precinct officers responded to the grocery store parking lot at 12:45 p.m. after a fellow shopper noticed the children and called police. Officer Tom Minnion and Sgt. Kevin McKeon found a 2-year-old girl and 14-month-old boy in the 2004 Chrysler and broke into the vehicle to release them.

The children did not require any medical attention, but police said the girl was sweating heavily. Child Protective Services was notified, and they were released to the custody of their father, police said.

Jennifer C. Sanders, 33, was charged with two counts of endangering the welfare of a child, and is expected to be arraigned Thursday at First District Court in Central Islip. A message left at Sanders' residence was not immediately returned.