Lakewood Teacher Who Left Baby In Car On Torrid Day Could Avoid Legal Penalties

FREEHOLD, NJ – A Lakewood teacher who left her baby alone in a hot car on a torrid summer day and took her other children into a Kohl's store in Howell may be able to avoid a criminal record, according to a report.

The Asbury Park Press reported Karen B. Gruen, 34, of Lakewood, was permitted by Monmouth County Superior Court Judge Thomas F. Scully to enter a court diversionary program that will give her a chance to avoid a criminal record.

Gruen, a teacher at Oak Street Elementary School in Lakewood, will be required to perform 100 hours of community service during her year in the program, her attorney, Steven Secare, told the Asbury Park Press, according to the report. If she successfully completes the program, she won’t have a criminal record.

The 4-month-old baby was rescued by Steven Eckel, 53, of Jackson, a retired Middlesex County Sheriff's Officer, and Sarah Mazzone, of Howell, who heard the baby crying in the car on an August day when temperatures were in the high 80s. Eckel used a sledgehammer to smash open the window so he and Mazzone could get her out of the car, Eckel said in an interview with Patch.

Eckel and Mazzone were hailed for their actions, which Howell Police Chief Andrew Kudrick Jr. said "truly saved the life of this child."

The pair noticed the baby crying in the backseat of the car, which was parked in the lot of Kohl’s department store in Howell, Eckel said in a Patch interview at the time. The car's engine was off and its windows rolled up. Eckel smashed the window, and the pair got the baby out and brought her into the air-conditioning in Kohl’s, where they cooled her down with water they poured on cloths and wiped on her face.

>> READ MORE: Man Rescues 4-Month-Old Baby Left In Car At Shopping Center

Police said Gruen left the baby in the hot car for about 40 minutes. The infant was partially covered with a blanket, they said. She was sweating, bright red, crying and appeared to be in great distress, police said.

Secare said Gruen, who was charged with child endangerment, a second-degree crime carrying a prison term of five to 10 years, has continued working in the Lakewood school district since the Aug. 29 incident.

Tara Wilson, an assistant Monmouth County prosecutor who handled the case, did not object to the request for pre-trial intervention, a decision Secare called "compassionate."

Gruen “had some family and employment pressures, and she made a mistake," Secare said.

His client totally forgot that the baby was in the car.

“It was a hot day, but the baby wasn’t hurt," Secare said.

Image: Patch file photo