How bystander in Quakertown saved baby inside a 114-degree hot car. Mom now faces charges

A 33-year-old Northampton County woman is accused of leaving her infant son inside a car where the temperature reached above 100-degrees while she was inside a Quakertown business.

A bystander who heard the child crying inside the unlocked car, removed the baby and took him into an air-conditioned business, while another person called 911 after she was unable to find the baby’s caregiver.

Quakertown police believe the baby boy was inside the Honda Civic for about 15 minutes after his mother, Janelle Loveless, of Bethlehem, parked it in the 220 block of North Broad Street on July 5, according to a probable cause affidavit.

At the time, the temperature outside was approximately 90 degrees and there was a heat advisory, according to the affidavit. A thermal temperature sensor recorded an internal temperature of the car was 114 degrees, police said.

The police officer reported that the infant’s skin was a cherry-red color and his hairline appeared wet.

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The bystander who rescued the baby told police that he heard a baby crying in the backseat of a gray car, and when he looked inside the infant appeared in distress. The vehicle was turned off, and the windows cracked open, the affidavit said.

While the witness moved the child, whose age is not known, into an air-conditioned business, another witness, who also heard the baby’s cries, attempted to find a caregiver.

The officer ran the vehicle’s tags, which came back to Loveless, who returned to the car at 3 p.m. — about 15 minutes after police arrived to put a parking voucher on her windshield, the affidavit said.

When police asked Loveless why she left an infant unattended in the backseat of the car, the officer said she paused, turned toward the backseat and started to panic when she saw the baby wasn’t there, police said.

She then ran toward the ambulance where the infant was being treated. The mother and child were taken to St. Luke’s Hospital in Bethlehem where the baby was being held for observation..

Police obtained surveillance video at the intersection of West Broad Street and Third Street, which they said showed Loveless park her car at 2:22 p.m. She did not have the infant with her when she entered a nearby business.

Loveless was arraigned Thursday on a felony charge of endangering the welfare of children and summary charges of leaving a child unattended in a car and driving without a license. She is free on unsecured bail.

Reporter Jo Ciavaglia can be reached at jciavaglia@gannett.com