INDIANAPOLIS (WBBM NEWSRADIO) – Two children were overcome by carbon monoxide in the parking lot of a Walmart in Muncie, Indiana. Now, their parents are facing criminal charges.
Muncie Police Chief Nathan Sloan said while the parents of the children, ages 2 and 8, were inside the Walmart for an extended period of time shoplifting, their children were unconscious in the back seat of the car.
Someone saw them and called 911.
Sloan told CBS 4 Indianapolis said firefighters told him it was only a matter of minutes before they would have died.
“Could’ve been much, much worse,” Sloan said.
The chief said he’s never heard of a case where something like this has happened outdoors.
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But the condition of the car made this case different.
“The car was missing quite a few of the components of the exhaust system,” Sloan said.
The parents, who are from Oklahoma, were charged with neglect of a dependent and retail theft.
“The children were neglected. The car was in a bad state of repair and fortunately we got there in time for the children’s lives to be saved,” Sloan said.
The children were hospitalized in serious but stable condition.
