Mikayla Lynn Peer, age 20 of Surprise, was placed under arrest and later booked into Maricopa County 4th Avenue Jail on charges of child neglect and endangerment after leaving her toddler in a hot car while she went shopping.
Shortly after 4 p.m., Surprise Police responded to a report of a small child left unattended inside a locked vehicle. A shopper was walking through the parking lot of the retail business in the area of 13700 West Bell Road when he spotted the child and called police.
Surprise Police arrived on scene within minutes of receiving the call and saw the two-year-old child inside the locked car, sweating profusely. Officers broke one of the vehicle’s windows and removed the child who was soon treated by paramedics from the Surprise Fire-Medical Department.
Approximately 5 minutes after the child had been rescued, readings of the temperature inside the vehicle were taken and indicated an average temperature of 108 degrees Fahrenheit. Surprise police later learned through the investigation that the child had been inside the vehicle for approximately 8 minutes before police arrived on scene.
The child was transported to a local hospital for further evaluation, but did not appear to have sustained any life-threatening injuries.
Officers were not immediately able to locate Peer, who was later found to be inside the store shopping. Surprise Police later determined that a period of at least 20 minutes had passed from the time the child was left inside the locked car until Peer returned to the parking lot.