Police officer fired, arrested after leaving baby in hot car for hours in Texas

globalnews.ca:

Texas has been arrested and fired from his job after police learned he had left his two-month-old baby in a hot car for three hours, local media reported.Antonio Almaraz, 31, has been charged with abandoning a child, child endangerment and causing serious bodily injury to a child after his baby was found unresponsive inside his vehicle. The two-month-old was rushed to a San Antonio-area hospital and remains in critical condition.The hospital where the baby is being treated notified police in Bexar County about the incident.When police questioned Almaraz about what happened, he gave conflicting statements, “however, investigators were able to determine the events that had actually taken place,” the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office told local outlet KSAT.Police learned that Almaraz had driven his baby to a routine doctor’s appointment at around 9 a.m.

before returning home around 10 a.m. That’s when investigators believe Almaraz forgot his baby in the car and went inside.The two-month-old was discovered unresponsive just after 1 p.m.

Almaraz was arrested shortly after.Almaraz’s bond was set at US$80,000 and he was issued an order of dismissal from his employment with the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office.Almaraz was hired about seven months ago on Feb. 20 and was still in his probationary period at the sheriff’s office.

He cannot appeal his dismissal and cannot be rehired regardless of whether he is found guilty of the charges, KSAT reported.“Given the amount of awareness in the community regarding leaving children unattended in vehicles, there is absolutely no valid excuse for this to have occurred,” Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar said in a statement. “My family and I are praying for the best possible outcome for this