A 4-year-old girl endured more than eight hours in her family’s van at a city-operated lot during a frigid night in Milwaukee after her mother was pulled over on suspicion of drunken driving, police and city officials said.
City engineer Jeff Polenske told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that the girl’s mother was arrested at about midnight Tuesday. A 10-month-old baby was removed from the woman’s van, but the mother apparently failed to mention that a 4-year-old child was also inside the vehicle.
The young girl was found at about 8:30 a.m. by a tow lot operator, who found her “very upset and crying,” Polenske told the newspaper.
“Obviously this is something that’s alarming to us,” he said. “We definitely don’t want this to happen.”
Sgt. Sheronda Grant, a Milwaukee police spokeswoman, told The Post on Wednesday that the girl was expected to be fine after being taken to a hospital for observation.
“She is OK, from what I understand,” Grant said.
Investigators were seeking criminal charges against the girl’s mother, who was arrested for operating while intoxicated, Grant said.
Exactly how the girl was left behind remains under investigation, Grant said, adding that cops were still working on obtaining details about the incident.
All vehicles should be “thoroughly searched” at the scene prior to being shipped off to tow lots, according to Milwaukee Police Department policy cited by the Journal Sentinel.
The woman’s van was put on a flatbed truck by a towing contractor before being taken to a lot on Lincoln Avenue. Once there, all vehicles are typically inspected using a flashlight, Polenske said.
Temperatures in Milwaukee dropped to 19 degrees overnight Tuesday, according to National Weather Service data.
The girl’s great-aunt, meanwhile, said the girl had been asleep in the back seat of the van the entire time.
“I’m frustrated right now because I’m trying to figure out why the whole van wasn’t searched,” Dynasty Davis told KTVI. “She’s in good spirits, coloring, eating good, being a child.”
Despite her quick recovery, Davis said she isn’t sure how her great-niece got through the ordeal.
“I couldn’t even understand myself lasting that long,” Davis said. “All those hours.”
