Mother accused of leaving 7-month-old daughter in car in hospital parking garage

TEXARKANA, Texas (KSLA/Gray News) - A woman who works at a Texas hospital has been arrested for allegedly leaving her 7-month-old baby in a running car in the parking garage.

The Texarkana, Texas Police Department says they got a call early Friday morning about a baby locked in a car on the fourth floor of the St. Michael Hospital parking garage, according to KSLA.

When police arrived, security officers and a couple of nurses were already standing around the car. They told police someone walking by noticed the car’s engine running then saw the baby sitting alone in the car in a car seat. They were able to get into the car via a window that had been left cracked open and got the baby out.

While police were trying to find the car’s owner, a woman, later identified as Britney Petro, walked up and said the car and baby were hers. Police asked her why she left the 7-month-old in the car, to which she reportedly replied she couldn’t find a babysitter that morning.

Officers allege Petro left the baby in the car for about 45 minutes while she went into the hospital to report to work and talk to her supervisor.

Petro was arrested for abandoning or endangering a child and was booked into the Bi-State Jail. She was released from jail that same afternoon after posting a $50,000 bond, police say.

Child Protective Services was notified about the incident and took custody of the baby girl.

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