GUILDERLAND — A mother and grandmother were arrested last Wednesday after Guilderland Police discovered they left a 3-year-old child locked in a car at Star Plaza. The temperature was 86 degrees Fahrenheit, police say.

Lorie Cordell, 54, the child’s grandmother, and Franchesca Zuniga, 25, the child’s mother, both of 790 Route 990, Gilboa (Schoharie County), were charged with endangering the welfare of a child, a misdemeanor.

Police arrested the two women shortly after 7 p.m. at the plaza, at the corner of routes 155 and 20, after they received a call about a child being locked in a car there, according to a release from Guilderland Police. When police arrived, they say they found the car was not running. Cordell and Zungia stated that the car had been left running with an automatic car starter, which provided air-conditioning, the release says.

High temperatures inside of a car can be fatal in a matter of minutes, the assistant chief of operations for the Western Turnpike Rescue Squad, Denise Schultz, told The Enterprise that
"At that temperature it could cause hyperthermia"which is the over heating of all the body’s systems," Schultz said. "It has been fatal"In that kind of heat, we’re talking just a few minutes before you could have adverse effects occur."

Schultz said there are many other factors involved, too, such as pre-existing health conditions and the heat index and humidity levels, that make it dangerous to be in a locked car during the summer months.

The young and the elderly are especially susceptible to health risks due to excessive heat, Schulz said, adding that the rescue squad answers more calls in extremely hot and cold weather.

Guilderland Police say Cordell and Zuniga were both released on appearance tickets at the scene and are scheduled to appear in Guilderland Town Court on Aug. 16.