AUGUSTA - A mother has been charged with misdemeanor child deprivation after leaving her 11-month-old baby alone in a minivan on one of the hottest days of the year. <br>
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Heidi Dodd, 36, told police she left her daughter alone in a shopping center parking lot for only 10 minutes while she ran an errand Tuesday. <br>
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Other shoppers noticed the child inside a Plymouth Voyager and broke into the driver-side window with a wrench and a tire iron. <br>
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The baby was not injured. <br>
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The day's high temperature was 92, with a heat index of 103. According to the Automotive Coalition for Traffic Safety, the temperature inside a car can reach 122 degrees in 20 minutes and 150 degrees in 40 minutes when outside temperatures reach 95. <br>
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Dodd was taken to the Richmond County jail with no bond set. The Augusta-Richmond County Department of Family and Children Services began an investigation and turned the child over to her father.
