Cops: Nanny locked child in car, shoplifted from Target

HICKSVILLE, N.Y. - A nanny is accused of leaving a toddler alone in a hot minivan while she went on a shoplifting spree in a Long Island store, reports CBS New York.

Christine Nunes, 37, of Lynbrook, N.Y., left the 3-year-old girl she was caring for in the backseat of a locked 2006 Dodge Caravan while she went into a Target in Hicksville around 1 p.m. Tuesday, police said.

Someone saw the child in the vehicle and called police, authorities said.

Detectives said the girl was in the minivan for about 35 minutes with the windows rolled up and was sweating and visibly hot when officers arrived, according to CBS New York.

"The officers quickly removed the child from the car," Nassau County Police Insp. Kenneth Lack said. "The car was well over 100 degrees, according to officers at the scene."

The child was taken to a local hospital where she was treated for dehydration before being released to her father, police said.

Nunes, who worked for a Plainview family, was arrested after she returned to the minivan with items she had shoplifted from Target, police said. The alleged shoplifting spree was caught on camera, police said.

Defense attorney David Ledgin said his client is a "very troubled woman" with a history of mental health issues.

"She's alleged to have taken $45 worth of merchandise at a time when she had approximately $1,000 on her, that should tell you something," Ledgin told reporters. "She wouldn't hurt a fly knowingly, I think she's just in a very bad place mentally."

"It's a very tragic case, thank God it wasn't worse," Ledgin added.

Nunes, who has four young children of her own, is charged with petty larceny and reckless endangerment. She has five prior arrests, mostly for larceny-type offenses, reports the station.

Nunes was being held on $50,000 bail and a stay-away order was issued on behalf of the victim. She is due back in court on Friday June 27.