Police: Parents left newborn, toddler locked inside car in freezing weather while they were shopping

A couple was charged with endangering the welfare of their two children after police say they went shopping and left their newborn and 1-year-old locked inside a car in the parking lot while it was below freezing.

It happened Sunday at the IKEA in Robinson Township around 2 p.m.

A customer called 911 after spotting two very young children all alone in a car.

According to the criminal complaint, “the engine was off, the heat was off and the doors were locked."

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Police and paramedics didn’t find out just how young the children were until their parents, Alperi Tashmatova and Timur Babakhanov, exited the store.

Inside the locked car was a “newborn wearing a heavy winter coat beside him was a 15 month old wearing a coat," according to the criminal complaint.

The children’s father reportedly told police “he went in the store first and the children’s mother was only in there a short time.“

The parents claimed “they left the children alone for 15 minutes," police said.

But when investigators checked store security cameras, they said it wasn’t true. Police said they left the children in their for 56 minutes.

Police said the children were not taken from their parents, but CYF is investigating the incident.

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