Buffalo Grove woman faces child endangerment charge

A Buffalo Grove woman has been charged with endangering the health of a 4-year-old child after leaving him unaccompanied in a car for 30 minutes while she shopped, police said.

Zhao Yan, 41, of the 700 block of Weidner Road, was arrested about 2:30 p.m. July 14 in a store lot on the 900 block of North Elmhurst Road, Mount Prospect. The temperature at the time was 85 degrees, according to police reports.

Witnesses heard the child crying and notified a store employee, who reached inside a partially open driver’s side window and unlocked the door, police said. The rear windows of the car were open 6 inches and the rear vented windows were open, police said. The child was hot at first but recovered and was not taken to the hospital, police said.

Yan told officers her son was sleeping in the back seat when she parked the car so she left him there, police said. Yan’s next court date is July 30. Child endangerment is a Class A misdemeanor.