Queens Mom Arrested For Leaving 2-Year-Old Alone In Car To Shop

COLLEGE POINT, QUEENS -- A Queens mother could face jail time for allegedly leaving her 2-year-old daughter alone inside her locked car for more than 30 minutes while she shopped inside a TJ Maxx, prosecutors said Monday.

Elvira Sadikaj, 46, was cuffed in the middle of the department store's College Point parking lot on Sunday afternoon after bystanders spotted her little girl sobbing and sweat-drenched inside Sadikaj's locked black Honda and called 911, said Queens District Attorney Richard Brown.

A crowd built around the car as firefighters popped open the lock on the front door and rescued the dehydrated, overheated toddler, authorities said. Around five minutes later, Sadikaj returned. Her alleged response to the commotion? "I wasn't gone for a long time."

But prosecutors disagree. Brown pointed out Sunday was one of the hottest days of the year so far - with temperatures reported up to 58 degrees in College Point - and "could have ended tragically" had firefighters and bystanders not been there to intervene.

The East Elmhurst mother was arraigned in Queens Criminal Court on Monday on charges of endangering the welfare of a child and ordered to return to court on May 4.

If convicted, she could face up to a year in jail.

“Now that the weather is warming up, this incident should serve as a warning to parents and all care-givers that children - as well as pets - left inside an automobile could result in a death," Brown said. "Don’t do it. No trip is quick enough to risk the life of a loved one.”

(Lead photo via Google Maps)