SOUTHINGTON – An infant is recovering after it was left in a cold car Wednesday morning. Police were called to the VIP store on 228 Queen Street around 11 a.m. Officers found the two-week-old alone inside a 1997 Nisan Sentra that was parked in the lot.
Police say the child’s mother, Lindsay Hoffman, 26, of Waterbury and her acquaintance Marquette Riggsbee, 54, of New Haven entered the VIP with the infant. When the store personnel told the pair that children were not allowed inside the adult store, the couple left, then re-entered a short time later.
Employees became concerned and went out to check on the infant, according to Police. Then, the employee called police.
Officers arrived and found the vehicle in the lot with the infant inside. The vehicle was not running and temperatures were below freezing. Officers secured the infant and contacted AMR ambulance to check on the infant’s condition. Other officers on scene went inside the store and found both Hoffmann and Riggsbee inside. The couple was found to have been inside the store without the infant for over twenty minutes.
Both Hoffmann and Riggsbee were charged with Risk of injury to a Minor and Leaving a Child Unsupervised. They were each held on a $25,000.00 bond.
The infant was transported to the hospital for evaluation. The infant’s core temperature was found to be adequate but it did have cold extremities. DCF was notified and has started its own investigation.
