Children left alone in car prompts passersby to act

LYNN – A child’s cries led two passersby on Mount Vernon Street to discover two children sitting by themselves in a black Toyota Camry on Thursday.Shocked that they were alone, Paul Melanson, a social worker, and Lynn resident Elizaveth Ratner called the Lynn Police Department, while they spoke to a young girl who held up three fingers to say her age through an open window.”I could hear the little boy, I think he was about four months old, screaming his lungs out down the street, so I walked over to see what was going on and I saw them in the car alone,” he said. “Anybody could have just jumped in the car.”Moments later, a young man and woman walked over to the vehicle from the farmer’s market at the corner of Union and Exchange streets and got in, ignoring Melanson’s and Ratner’s questions about why the children were left unattended.”They didn’t seem at all upset about the situation in the least,” Melanson said. “I told them to stay because the police were on their way, but they took off. The police didn’t get here in time.”Roughly five minutes later, police arrived and said they would check on the children’s well being with the help of Melanson’s report.”It was just outrageous that they left the children alone,” Melanson said. “I want the police to notify the Department of Social Services.”Ratner shuddered at the thought of how many other times the children may have been left alone.”I’m sure it happens a lot, because it wasn’t a quick situation,” she said. “They were alone for about 10 minutes.”According to Deputy Police Chief Kenneth Santoro, police went to the couple’s home to check out the situation.”A Hispanic male said he was sitting in the vehicle with the two children when the boy began screaming, so he went to get his wife who is breastfeeding the boy,” he said.During the visit, Santoro said police observed the children at the home who appeared to be well taken care of, but still contacted the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families (DCF) to schedule a future follow up visit.Charges were not filed against the couple.