Woman charged after leaving her 4 young children in car in Walmart parking lot

A Philadelphia woman was charged with four counts of endangering the welfare of a child Thursday after police found her four children alone in a car outside an East Meadow Walmart store.

Police were called to the Walmart parking lot on Hempstead Turnpike in East Meadow shortly after 7 a.m. after a 911 caller said the children were left alone inside an unlocked car.

Police found a two girls, ages 2 and 7, and two boys, 3 and 5, inside the car without their mother. Officers opened the car and called an ambulance to transport the children to be evaluated. The children were released to foster care services, police said.

The children’s mother, Ilana Rios, 26, of Philadelphia was arrested at the scene. She was being held by police and was to be arraigned Monday in First District Court in Hempstead. An attorney for Rios was not listed.

By John Asbury

john.asbury@newsday.comJohnAsbury

John Asbury is a breaking news and general assignment reporter. He has been with Newsday since 2014 and previously worked at The Press-Enterprise in Riverside, California.