Woman Left Baby In Hot Car In Monmouth County, Police Say

MIDDLETOWN, NJ — Police say they rescued a one-year-old baby from a hot car Thursday afternoon in Middletown.

The car was parked in the parking lot of the TJ Maxx, located at 1123 Rt. 35. At 3:43 p.m. Thursday, a passerby called 911 to report a baby left unattended in a vehicle.

Middletown Police arrived, found the car and found the baby, a boy, age 1, crying and sweating in the backseat of the vehicle, said police.

The car was not running, nor had air conditioning on. It is unknown where in the parking lot it was parked or how many of the windows were down.

Police officers removed the baby from the car and he was taken inside an officer’s patrol car, which had air conditioning on, to cool off while an ambulance was called to assess the condition of the baby.

The child’s mother, Christina Joubert, 39, of Keansburg, approached the scene. She initially asked the police officers there about her dog, which she also left in the car but had jumped out of an open window.

She was placed under arrest and taken to police headquarters.

Her baby was transported to Hackensack Meridian Health Riverview Medical Center in Red Bank for a precautionary assessment and later released to his father.

The dog, a pit bull, had been secured by concerned citizens at the scene.

Joubert was charged with second-degree child endangerment and animal cruelty, a disorderly persons offense. She was taken to the county jail pending her first court hearing.

“Never leave a child in a vehicle unattended for any length of time. If you see a child alone in a car, please call 911 immediately," said Middletown Police Chief R. Craig Weber. “It’s important for everyone to understand these tragedies are always preventable."

In the past 25 years, more than 1,000 children have died of heatstroke because they were left or became trapped in a hot car, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

A child’s body temperature rises three to five times faster than an adult’s.

When a child is left in a vehicle, the child’s body temperature can rise very quickly, and the situation can become life threatening.

Anyone who may have witnessed or has information about the incident is asked to contact Detective Sergeant Ricardo Cruz at (732) 615-2071.