Cara Dugan (Merrick County Sheriff’s Office).
A 40-year-old Kearney, Nebraska, mom is accused of spending part of her weekend riding a horse at the local fairgrounds as she left her 3-month-old baby alone inside of a pickup truck with the windows “only partially ajar” on a day that reached temperatures of 90 degrees, the sheriff’s office said.
Cara Dugan’s arrest while riding a horse at the Merrick County Fairgrounds on Saturday afternoon occurred after people heard the baby crying in the hot pickup truck near other parked cars and stepped in to help, according to the Merrick County Sheriff’s Office.
Once the summer heat rolls around, there never seems to be a shortage of parents facing arrests and, when there are fatalities, extremely serious charges for hot car incidents.
At times, there have been cases of parents accused of playing video games while their children were left to die from heat exposure.
In other cases, suspects have been accused of officiating a church service or even going out gambling at a casino.
The case against Cara Dugan doesn’t involve a death or an injury, but she’s nonetheless accused of felony child abuse and her child is now “in the care and custody of the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services,” the sheriff’s office said.
Authorities didn’t specify exactly how long the baby was inside the pickup truck with no air conditioning on, but they did say it was a “substantial amount of time” and they’re crediting caring law-abiding citizens for hearing something and saying something while Dugan was allegedly “inside of a building riding a horse.”
“The infant was discovered after a citizen heard the infant crying and began to systematically search the surrounding cars,” authorities said. “The citizen was also assisted in the recovery and care of the infant by additional citizens on the grounds.”
“Tragedy was most likely avoided thanks to their response and actions!” the sheriff’s office added.
Under Nebraska law and the alleged circumstances described here, Dugan is charged with “knowingly and intentionally” committing felony child abuse that “does not result in serious bodily injury[.]”
It’s unclear at this time if Dugan has a defense attorney.
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