A 21-year-old Bremerton woman left her infant son alone in her vehicle with the windows up Aug. 19 while she was inside a store and initially lied to a sheriff’s deputy about the incident. The infant was temporarily removed from her custody.

A call was received at about 12:39 p.m. in reference to a crying infant that was left inside a vehicle in the parking lot of the East Bremerton Fred Meyer on State Highway 303.

A sheriff’s deputy arrived on scene at about 12:46 p.m. and found the mother had returned to the vehicle. The woman told the deputy that her older son, a 2-year-old, had defecated himself and she took him inside the store to clean him up and to purchase some jar food. She added that she left her infant son in the vehicle with her friend and while she was in the store she heard someone say there was a baby crying outside. She returned to find a crowd standing by her vehicle.

The deputy asked the woman several times if she really did leave the infant with a friend and she was adamant that she did but she did not know where her friend went. The deputy requested the store to make an announcement over the intercom for the friend but the friend never responded.

Eventually the 21-year-old admitted that she left her infant alone in the vehicle. Bystanders said they attempted to shade the baby from the sun because he was sweating and they could not get into the locked vehicle.

A social worker with Child Protective Services arrived on scene and took custody of the infant and the woman kept her older son with her. A surveillance video from the store showed that the woman and her 2-year-old entered the store at about 12:29 p.m. and left at about 12:46 p.m.

No arrest was made and the report was forwarded to the prosecutor’s office for review.