Mother leaves newborn daughter and toddler son inside hot car littered with loose prescription pills, claims she had 'no idea' about it

Mother leaves newborn daughter and toddler son inside hot car littered with loose prescription pills, claims she had 'no idea' about it

MANATEE COUNTY, FLORIDA: A 35-year-old Florida mother has been arrested for leaving her seven-week-old daughter and toddler son inside a hot car littered with loose prescription pills and empty alcohol bottles.  

When officers reportedly confronted Andrea Michelle Cole, she told them that she had "no idea that she left her children in the car and could not answer questions," a probable cause affidavit obtained by the Miami Herald stated.

The deputies said that Cole became "very hostile" as they tried to speak with her. She also reportedly threatened to fight deputies, leading to immediate detainment of the mother.

Deputies with the Manatee County Sheriff's Office said that they found out two young children were exhibiting signs of heat exhaustion in a locked car as they approached Cole's home on Monday, July 29.

Authorities, while combing the car, also found loose prescription pills, open liquor bottles and used diapers inside the vehicle. 

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The officials responded to the home at 12:28 pm on Monday after they received a domestic violence report, and that is when they found the children in a car in the driveway with all but one window closed.

The temperatures outside at the time were 93 degrees with a heat index of 102 degrees.

After opening the car, they found an unresponsive newborn girl in the car and called assistance at the scene to help the baby.

Both the children were taken to the Manatee Memorial Hospital to be treated and were found to have multiple sores and bite marks on them.

The officials at the scene estimated that the children had been inside the car for nearly 20 minutes.

Cole's house, which she shared with her husband and children, was reportedly filthy and had garbage stacked across the house. The deputies said that there was nothing edible to eat in the home and alcohol bottles were scattered all over the house. 

Cole was charged with child neglect and resisting arrest with violence. Reports state that she is currently at the Manatee County jail and has a bond of $9,000. Her children, meanwhile, have been placed in the protective custody of their maternal grandmother.