Woman charged in abandoning toddlers in hot car after MD-PA chase

BALTIMORE — A woman was arrested after fleeing police with two toddlers in the car in western Maryland, crashing in Pennsylvania and abandoning the children in the hot vehicle. She was allegedly driving drunk.

State Police found the two 3-year-old boys in the vehicle near the state line. They said: "The vehicle was turned off with the windows closed and the doors shut. The boys were unharmed fortunately."

Maryland State Police responded at about 1 p.m. July 9 after the children's mother - Samantha Cherry, 25, of Confluence, Pa. - left a pawn shop in Garrett County and people were concerned for her well-being.

Police followed her to the state line, about 30 miles north, where Pennsylvania state troopers found the car in a two-vehicle crash in the Markleysburg, Pa., area at 3:30 p.m., about two hours later.

Police found the two toddlers in the car; Cherry had fled the scene before police arrived.

The temperature in western Maryland was 88 degrees at the time, with high humidity, said Maryland State Police.

Cherry was charged by Pennsylvania police with driving under the influence and endangering the welfare of children. She also faces traffic charges in Maryland.

Maryland State Police commented that their Aviation Command "prevented what could have been a terrible outcome."