An Albuquerque woman was arrested for leaving child in car

Albuquerque police arrested a woman who left her 3-year-old son locked in a vehicle outside a Walgreens in Southwest Albuquerque earlier this week — on a day when temperatures neared 100.

Gabriela Cardenas, 35, is charged with child abuse. She was booked into the Metropolitan Detention Center on Tuesday. Cardenas' attorney could not be reached for comment.

This is at least the second time this year that Albuquerque police have responded to a child left in a vehicle. On May 25, a 1-year-old child was found dead.

On June 17, officers responded to a call around 6:15 p.m. from a Walgreens employee that a child was alone in a vehicle and "was screaming and was red in the face," according to the criminal complaint filed in Metropolitan Court.

The car was off, the windows "only slightly cracked," and the child was strapped into a car seat, the criminal complaint states. Police said it was 97 degrees outside and the child was left in the car for roughly six minutes.

APD posted body camera footage of the incident on their Instagram page. The boy was assessed by a medical team and deemed OK based on his vital signs.

Court records show that the employee made a public announcement on the store's speaker before Cardenas identified herself as the mother.

Cardenas continued to wait in line to complete her purchase, and told employees the child was "fine, and because the windows were cracked that he could be left alone inside the vehicle," according to the complaint.

"For the next several minutes, Gabriela (Cardenas) argues with the Walgreens staff about going out to her child," the complaint states.

The Walgreens employee instructed Cardenas to attend to her child, but Cardenas refused and stated that she needed to pay for her items first. The employee proceeded to ask other patrons if Cardenas could complete her purchase first to get back to her child, to which the customers agreed, according to the criminal complaint.

The staff member added that she would be calling the police. Cardenas said she would take her business elsewhere and left the store. Officers arrived on the scene and Cardenas admitted to leaving her child in the car, but that it was "only for a few minutes," police said.