Cosimo CapitanioRising temperatures can turn the family car into a deadly tomb, child-safety advocates warn, and they are trying to drive home the message that it's never OK to leave a child alone in a car.
A 14-month-old girl was rescued by Orange County firefighters Sunday after her father left her strapped into her car seat while he and three other children went inside a Chuck E. Cheese's on Alafaya Trail.
The temperature outside was 91 degrees when the girl was rescued at 1 p.m. Orange County Sheriff's Office records show the child was left in the car with the windows up and the doors locked for 10 to 15 minutes.
In just 10 minutes, the temperature inside the car could have risen to 110 degrees, and it could have reached 120 degrees after 20 minutes, according to a hyperthermia study from San Francisco State University.
The child was saved after a woman who parked near Cosimo Capitanio's car noticed the child in the back seat and called police, reports show.
"I applaud the witness who called police," said Carrie Hoeppner, Department of Children & Families spokeswoman. "She may very well have saved that child's life."
Capitanio, 40, was found inside the restaurant with his other children, all younger than 5, after firefighters broke a window to reach the girl. He was arrested on charges of felony neglect of a child, and all four children were turned over to DCF. They were returned to their mother Monday.
A Florida law passed in 2007 makes it a crime to leave a child younger than 6 alone in a car for more than 15 minutes. The state joins 11 others with similar statutes.
But even that is not sufficient to some. Harrison's Hope, a nonprofit organization for child and car safety, recently launched the "Zero Seconds" campaign -- to drive home the idea that a child should never be left unattended for any period of time, said spokeswoman Diana Van Leuven.
"We are trying to change behavior through the 'Zero Seconds' campaign," she said. "It's never OK" to leave a child in a car.
Bianca Prieto can be reached at 407-420-5620 or bprieto@orlandosentinel.com.
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