Charges filed against mom who left kid in car

Erica D. Johnson

Friday, July 11, 2003 | 11:16 a.m.

The Clark County district attorney's office has filed criminal charges against another mother who left her child unattended in a car in soaring temperatures.

Elizabeth Albarran will face a gross misdemeanor child endangerment charge for leaving her 3-year-old daughter in a car with the windows rolled up in 108 degree Fahrenheit temperatures, said Chief Deputy District Attorney Bill Hehn, who screens cases for the office

Albarran, 28, will be arraigned in before Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Tony Abbatangelo on Aug. 7.

Prosecutors have not yet filed charges against a couple who on Monday left their four children under 5 years of age in a car parked across the street from the Clark County Courthouse.

Lt. Jeff Carlson of Metro's Abuse and Neglect Unit said police plan to forward that case to the District Attorney's office, but that they have not finished the investigation.

"That case hasn't been sent over yet," he said. "It will probably be sent over by the end of next week."

Hehn said the details of Albarran's case made it "quite apparent that the child was in danger."

"The child was sweating profusely and (authorities) couldn't tell if she was asleep or unconscious," he said. "The fact that the child was unable to fend for itself was enough to indicate endangerment."

Hehn said the charges were filed quickly because Albarran was taken into police custody at the time of the incident. Prosecutors did not have to wait for police to finish a lengthy investigation, he said.

According to police reports, Albarran told officers that she left her child asleep in the car Tuesday while she went into Family Medical Center, 4451 W. Flamingo Road, for a job application.

Albarran said that she was gone for five minutes, but when she returned to the car she discovered her keys locked inside.

She ran back into the medical center and an employee dialed 911, the police report said. Police had to break a car window to rescue the child.

Hehn said someone passing by the car noticed the child was in the car and called police.

"It is obviously intentional when someone walking by the car could see the child," he said. "But it was also her admission. She admitted she intentionally left the child in the car while she went inside the business."

Since May 1 Metro Police have investigated 12 incidents of children left in vehicles across Southern Nevada, police said.

Two other parents have been charged as a result. Maria Door Soto and Won Chong. face gross misdemeanor child endangerment charges after their children were left in their cars on June 3 and 6, respectively.