Glendale PD: Mother arrested for leaving 3-month-old in locked car on 114 degree day

GLENDALE, Ariz. (FOX 10) - A woman is behind bars after leaving her 3-month-old locked inside her car when it was 114 degrees out.

On July 12, Glendale officers were dispatched to the parking lot of a Fry's Food and Drug store at 43rd Avenue and Bethany Home Road because someone saw a baby in a locked car.

When officers arrived, they say they saw the 3-month-old locked inside the back seat of the car. The car wasn't running, and the windows were rolled up.

Officers broke the front window of the car to get the baby out. Fire department officials said the baby had no injuries.

Management of the Fry's store announced over the intercom the make and model of the car and Jessica Umtuch, 27, came out of the store, according to police.

When officers talked to Umtuch, she said had "forgotten the child in the car due to the child quietly sleeping."

Police say she also mentioned that she dropped the baby's father off at the bar prior to going to the grocery store.

She told police she had been arguing with her boyfriend for a few days. She needed to go to the grocery store and wanted to leave the child at home because of the heat. However, her boyfriend asked her to take him to the bar, which meant she had to take her baby with her.

She dropped her boyfriend off at the bar, and then drove to the grocery store, according to officers. She stated that, "[My] mind was in a different place," due to being frustrated, and that's how she forgot her baby in the car.

Umtuch also told police she realized she forgot about her baby when an employee called her in the store. She said this is not normally like her and that she was distracted.

After reviewing video footage, officers determined that Umtuch left the baby in the car for 16 minutes.

Officers say if someone hadn't noticed the baby in the car, her mother would've been in the store much longer to finish her shopping.

Umtuch is being charged with child abuse and child endangerment.