Two Kids Found Locked Inside Cold Van, Ottawa Police Investigate
Posted November 24, 2007 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Ottawa Police and provincial child services are investigating after an officer discovered two young children locked inside a frigid van Friday.
Bylaw officer Jim Walton was about to place a ticket on the vehicle parked in the city’s downtown area just before noon when he noticed something moving in the back seat.
When he peeked inside the vehicle with tinted windows Walton noticed two children in car seats. The van wasn’t running and the temperature outside was -6C.
Police and paramedics smashed a window to get into the van, then took a toddler and an infant to the Ottawa children’s hospital for observation. When the parents got back to the vehicle, an hour later, police were waiting for them. So far no charges have been laid.
Police believe the children had been in the van for at least an hour before the officer arrived, but one witness in the area claimed the vehicle was parked in the same spot all morning.
Walton said he couldn’t believe his eyes when he saw the children.
“My heart just about jumped out of my throat,” he said.
Both the toddler and the infant suffered no injuries and were returned to the care of their unidentified parents Friday afternoon.
A woman who works nearby said she’s certain the vehicle was parked in the same spot most of the morning.
“I have a seven-month-old at home and you don’t do that,” said Cecilia Rivera-Williams. “I saw the cops there and thought maybe somebody was dead or there was an animal inside. I never expected it to be two kids. I had to leave because it was too disturbing.”
File Photo
