Excerpts from ab7chicago.com:
Six children were taken to the hospital after being found locked in a hot car in a parking lot in Des Plaines Monday afternoon.
The North Maine Fire Protection District (NMFPD) said they were called to a wellbeing check at the Park Colony apartment complex in the 9100-block of Lincoln Drive in Des Plaines around 12:35 p.m.
When they arrived in the residential complex, they found six children in a van in the parking lot.
The property manager of the complex said she was alerted by a tenant about a van in the parking lot with six children in it, including two babies in car seats. The property manager said she could not see any food or water in the van, so she called 911. She said two windows were slightly open, but she said the kids were crying and clearly in distress in the locked car.
The Cook County Sheriff’s Office said the children were aged 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, and 18-months old. Sheriff’s police said when they arrived the children did not appear to be in distress, but were visibly overheated.
NMFPD confirmed that six minors were taken to Advocate Lutheran General Hospital for treatment.
DCFS is evaluating placement for the children, the sheriff’s office said.
The sheriff’s office said they searched the apartment complex and found the children’s father, who said he works for a cleaning service and left the van to clean a residence at 11:30 a.m. He was charged with six counts of misdemeanor child endangerment and released on his own recognizance, law enforcement said. He will appear in court on June 22.
