A North Chicago man has been charged with child endangerment after he allegedly went into Northwestern Lake Forest Hospital and left his two kids in the car with the windows rolled up.
Brandon E. Wilson, 32, of the 2100 block of Prospect Avenue in North Chicago, was cited with child endangerment, a Class A misdemeanor, police said.
Lake Forest Deputy Police Chief Rob Copeland said that the police and fire department responded around 11:57 a.m. Monday to the parking lot of Northwestern Medicine Lake Forest Hospital, 1000 North Westmoreland Road.
Hospital security located a Dodge pickup truck with two kids, ages 8 and 9, who were sounding the vehicle’s horn and appeared to be in medical distress.
Emergency crews responded and were able to get the children out of the vehicle. Paramedics evaluated the kids and brought them into the hospital’s emergency room for further medical evaluation, police said.
Officers identified Wilson as the children’s father and learned he had drove them to the hospital, parked the vehicle and went inside, leaving the two boys in the vehicle alone with the windows rolled up, Copeland said.
Police determined the kids had been in the vehicle for two hours and 15 minutes before hospital security found the vehicle with the horn sounding.
Wilson was located and interviewed by police before being charged, Copeland said. The Lake County Department of Children and Family Services was notified by hospital staff and responded to further investigate the incident.
Both children were still being treated at the hospital when police left the scene, Copeland said. Wilson was released and is scheduled to appear in court on August 23.