Father arraigned on charges of leaving child in hot car on Long Island

HUNTINGTON, N.Y. (WABC) -- A Maryland man was arraigned Friday after police say he left his 2-year-old daughter in a locked car in Huntington while he shopped Thursday afternoon.

According to his attorney, 30-year-old Melvin Marroquin had no idea he had left the child and was shocked when he arrived back to his truck and saw police.

"How did he forget that a child was in the car?" Eyewitness News asked.

"My information is that the child was placed in the car by someone other than himself. There were lots of kids at the house," said Chris Olson, Marroquin's attorney.

Marroquin's partner and mother to their two children was in court Friday to show her support for him.

"He left your child in a hot car. There's nothing you want to say about that?" Eyewitness News asked.

Prosecutors say Marroquin and his parents went shopping in this Marshall's Thursday afternoon, leaving Marroquin's 2-year-old daughter in the car with the windows rolled up for 20 minutes.

The temperature in the truck, according to police, got up to 120 degrees.

A passerby heard the child crying and called police.

"She was all red and she was drenched with water like, it was very sad. I have a 2-year old and it's just bringing me to tears," said Trisha Chowdhury, an eyewitness.

Trisha Chowdhury says she will never forget the sight of the crying toddler as officers rescued her from the oven and neither will the police.

"When I picked her up her skin was burning, hair stuck to her shoulders," said Officer Derek Mangi, Suffolk County Police Department, "And I rushed her across the street to Payless Shoes to keep her in the air conditioning."

Suffolk County Police Thursday broke into a Nissan Frontier to save a 2-year-old girl locked in the steaming car.

"When we initially got into the window, there was a very, very hot blast of heat," said Officer Aaron Klein, Suffolk County Police Department.

Friday, a judge issued a temporary order of protection against Marroquin, meaning he's not allowed to be anywhere near his daughter.

The family is from Maryland and was here visiting relatives.

"The mom seems pretty distraught. She was crying in court. Well, her husband slash partner is in the custody of the government. This is not what I think they were planning to do on the Fourth of July," Olson said.

Also in court Friday was Marroquin's mother who had been shopping with him at the time.

Eyewitness News asked her how the child got left in the car, but all she would tell us in Spanish is that she's just thankful the little girl is OK.

"She is OK, she is OK," his mother said.

Police say the father eventually admitted to leaving his little girl in the car for at least 25 minutes. She is with her mother now and recovering from this ordeal.

The child has been treated and released from the hospital. Marroquin is being held on $100,000 bail.