CHEEKTOWAGA, NY-- A Cheektowaga Police officer is credited with saving a child who was locked inside a hot car, while her mother was unconscious in the vehicle.
Officer Christopher Wierzbowski was on patrol Tuesday night when he noticed a vehicle with its lights on in a parking lot on Genesee Street and Harlem.
When he approached the vehicle, a child jumped up on the seat.
Police say the child's mother was slumped over in the vehicle with a needle sticking out from her arm.
With temps in the 80's last night, and the vehicle running with the heater on, the officer was concerned for the 3-year-old child, who was sweating and her face red. The officer was unable to wake the mother up and had to break the window to get the child out of the vehicle.
The child was treated at the scene for dehydration.
The mother, Jade Nikel, 28, regained consciousnesses before police could administer NARCAN. She was taken to ECMC to be evaluated.
She is charged with reckless endangerment, endangering the welfare of a child, criminal possession of a controlled substance and possession of a hypodermic instrument.
Nikel was arraigned in court and remanded to the Erie County Holding Center on $1,000 cash bail or $3,000 bond.