Crime & Safety
Police: Mother Left Baby in SUV While She Shopped
Jim Thorpe woman left 9-month-old son in vehicle -- with windows cracked open -- for 90 minutes while she shopped at Hanover Township Wegman's, Colonial Regional Police say.
A Jim Thorpe woman who “claims to be on methadone only” is accused of leaving her 9-month-old son in an SUV with two windows slightly open for about 90 minutes while she shopped at a store outside Bethlehem Friday afternoon, court records say.
Also, it took authorities another 90 minutes after removing the boy from the vehicle to find his mother, Heather Nicole Grove, 27. She had been shopping Friday afternoon at the off Route 512 in Hanover Township (Northampton County).
Police later found paraphernalia usually associated with cocaine in her purse, but she was not charged with any drug-related crimes.
When police discovered the boy, he was “crying, very warm to the touch and was sweating profusely,” the records say. An EMS crew took him to
A criminal complaint filed by Colonial Regional officer Ronald Nigro said police were dispatched to the Wegmans at 2:08pm. The back windows of the green 1997 Ford Explorer were closed and the two front windows were down about three inches.
Security video showed Grove walking into the store alone about 12:46 pm. Police finally found her around 3:30pm.
Police searched her purse and found two 3-inch straws with white residue on them; a green, 1-inch ziplock bag with residue; a razor blade, and a 4-inch-by-3-inch mirror. Police took the items into custody.
Elswhere in the records, police said Grove “claims to be on methadone only.”
Grove, of 28 E. Fourth St. in the Carbon County borough, was charged with endangering the welfare of a child. She was arraigned later Friday by on-duty District Judge John Capobianco of Nazareth and committed to Northampton County Prison after failing to post $5,000 bail.
