Full Notification

On Friday, July 1, 2016, at about 3:25 PM officers with the Anderson Police Department responded to the 5000 block of Rhonda Rd. for a report of a child being left unattended in a vehicle. Upon arrival at the location officers met with witnesses who reported a one-year-old child had been left alone in a vehicle car seat for approximately fifteen to twenty minutes, while the child’s mother was in a nearby business. Witnesses reported that the vehicle’s engine and air conditioning was not running.

Officers contacted the child’s mother, Felicia GASKINS, age 23, of Red Bluff, who now had the child in her arms, in a nearby store. GASKINS admitted to forgetting the child in the vehicle.

An ambulance was called to the scene and assessed the child for any heat related distress. Luckily the child was found to be in good health with no signs of an immediate medical emergency.

It was discovered that GASKINS had no provisions for the child with her, including no diapers, bottle, water, or food.

Officers placed a thermometer inside GASKINS vehicle, in the same car seat the child had been seated in. The thermometer registered a temperature of about 120 degrees in about five minutes.

GASKINS was placed under arrest for 273A(A) PC, felony child endangerment, and booked into the Shasta County Jail.

The child was taking into protective custody and released into the care of Shasta County Child and Family Services.

The Anderson Police Department would like to send a special thank you to the witnesses who reported seeing the child in the vehicle, and the citizen who provided the officers with a clean diaper and baby wipes to tend to the juvenile.