Parents accused of leaving their 6 kids — including 2 infants — in hot car while inside a Wingstop for up to 30 minutes

Two Kansas parents are accused of leaving their six children — including two infants — in a hot car as temperatures neared triple digits last week; the parents reportedly went inside a Wingstop for up to 30 minutes.

Citing Salina Police, KSAL-AM reported that officers were dispatched to the Wingstop in the 1600 block of South Ohio Street around 2:15 p.m. Wednesday concerning multiple children left in a vehicle in the parking lot for approximately 20 to 30 minutes with no air conditioning and only one window down.

‘A child’s body temperature raises three to five times faster than adults. They just do not have the same regulating capabilities that an adult does.’

KSAL said arriving officers found a vehicle containing two 7-month-old children, a 2-year-old, a 4-year-old, a 5-year-old, and a 13-year-old. The station said the vehicle was not running and had only one window down while the temperature was 97 degrees with a heat index of 102 degrees.

KSAL added that “the parents of the children,” identified as 53-year-old Michael Krueger and 40-year-old Tiffany Krueger, were located inside the business.

Witnesses said the parents had been in the business for approximately 20 to 30 minutes without checking on the children, the station said.

The Salina Police Department confirmed that Michael Krueger and Tiffany Krueger were booked on six counts of aggravated child endangerment, KWCH-TV reported.

Salina EMS responded and evaluated the children, KSAL reported; police also confirmed that all six children were taken into protective custody, KWCH added.

The parents remained behind bars Monday in Saline County Jail.

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Chad Scoville of the Salina Fire Department told KWCH that children are more vulnerable to heat than adults.

“A child’s body temperature raises three to five times faster than adults,” Scoville told the station. “They just do not have the same regulating capabilities that an adult does.”

Scoville added to KWCH that temperatures inside vehicles can reach dangerous levels in a short period of time.

“Temperatures can reach deadly levels inside cars within minutes,” Scoville told the station. “Anything can happen at any time, even if you think you’re going to be minutes — that could turn into an hour. We simply do not want to leave … children or pets in unattended vehicles. Period.”

KWCH, citing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said cracking a car window does not help reduce temperatures inside a vehicle. The station’s video report said a thermometer placed inside a car starting at 83 degrees with the windows rolled up reached 108 degrees in approximately 20 minutes.

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