Heber City woman arrested for leaving child in hot car while she took a driver’s test

HEBER CITY (ABC4) — A woman has been arrested for child abuse after allegedly leaving her child in a hot car for over an hour while she was taking a test for her driver’s license.

Eliana Suaza Argote, 34, was arrested on suspicion of intentional or knowing child abuse, a class A misdemeanor. According to the filed affidavit, Argote allegedly left her child in the car in the sun for over an hour, 68 minutes.

At 9:08 a.m., Police responded on a welfare check to the Driver’s License Division parking lot after receiving a report that there was a child that appeared to be about four years old laying in the back of a car that had been in the parking lot for over an hour, with the engine turned off and all windows up.

The responding officer reported that when he approached the vehicle, he could hear a child crying inside. The child had reportedly taken his shirt off because he was hot, and when asked why he was crying, he said that it was because he was hot. The officer reported that his hair was drenched in sweat, and he looked sluggish.

The front door was unlocked, and so the officer was able to take the child out of the vehicle and take him to get fresh air. The officer placed him in a grassy area in the shade and gave him water and candy to help cool him down and make him feel better.

Emergency medical services responded to evaluate the child, finding that he was lethargic and had unusually high blood pressure, but that he would be fine.

A detective searched for the child’s mother in all the offices in the building and was eventually able to locate Argote in the Driver’s License Division. Argote allegedly told police that she was not gone for very long.

Police examined surveillance footage, finding that Argote entered the building at 8:02 a.m., and that she did not come out to check on her son for over 68 minutes.

In 2024, 39 children died from heatstroke from inside a car, according to the National Traffic Safety Administration, which was a 35% increase from 2023.