Police: Lynbrook nanny locks child in car, then shoplifts

A Lynbrook nanny has been charged with reckless endangerment after she left a 3-year-old in a hot, locked minivan while she shoplifted merchandise from a Target store Tuesday afternoon, police said.

Nassau County police said 37-year-old Christine Nunes, the little girl's nanny, left her in the backseat of a 2006 Dodge Caravan in the Broadway Mall parking lot in Hicksville about 1 p.m. A passerby saw the child and called police, who said the girl was sweating and visibly hot when officers arrived.

High temperatures in Hicksville were in the low-80s Tuesday, and the girl was locked in the minivan for about 35 minutes with the windows rolled up, police said.

Using a lockout kit, Second Precinct officers were able to unlock the car and open the windows. At that time, police said, Nunes returned to the car, and officers determined that she had shoplifted merchandise from the Target store. She was arrested without incident, police said, and the girl was taken to a hospital, where she was treated for dehydration and released to her father.

Nunes, of 94 Mill River Ave., Lynbrook, is charged with petty larceny and first-degree reckless endangerment. She is scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday at First District Court in Hempstead.