Jul 8, 2008 7:33 pm US/Eastern
Elderly Man Dies After Son Leaves Him In Hot Car
Victim Sat In 110-Degree Car For Three Hours
Suspect Complained Of Being Cold While In Jail Overnight
PEEKSKILL, N.Y. (CBS) ―
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Theodore Pressman, 48, is charged with reckless endangerment after leaving his elderly father in a sweltering hot car for three hours.
CBS
An elderly Westchester man died after police say his adult son left him in a sweltering car for hours, CBS 2 has learned.
The victim, identified as 85-year-old Joseph Pressman, succumbed to the overheating of the Suzuki subcompact car he sat in on Monday afternoon. His 48-year-old son, Theodore Pressman, a local bus driver from Dutchess County, is now facing serious charges in his father's death.
Theodore Pressman is accused of reckless endangerment after police say he left both of his parents inside the car with the windows up after he parked it at an office complex on John Walsh Boulevard. Both parents suffer from dementia and physical health problems that limits their mobility.
The elder Pressman stayed inside the car for at least three hours and died from apparent heat stroke, while his wife walked around the area.
Those who knew the couple are shocked by the news.
"Very loving couple. When he needed help walking, she was right by his side," said Teresa Agosta, who works at the complex and often saw the couple at the Atrium Café.
Rick Tocco, the owner of the café, told CBS 2 the son would leave his parents there, and they would sit at a table and read the paper for hours. In fact, his mother, 75-year-old Joyce Pressman, came in as her husband sat in the car and she spoke with Tocco.
"She came in, I hadn't seen her in a long time, and she said its too hot to sit in the car. I said 'Yes it is, sit down and be comfortable in here,'" he said. "I didnt know anything else of the situation. I'm not sure what their mental faculties were completely."
Tocco said the younger Pressman was quiet, but appeared to genuinely try to take care of his parents.
"He seemed very private, very to himself, and overwhelmed a lot of times trying to take care of the two of them," he said.
Peekskill police are baffled why, given his parents age and health problems, would leave them in a hot car to fend for themselves.
"It's almost unimaginable that anyone would do that," said Peekskill Police Chief Gene Tumolo. "But as he told us, he felt that he was taking them out to get them out of the house. But knowing that they had these kinds of medical conditions was at the very least the poorest of judgment."
It's believed the car had heated up to more than 110 degrees while his father sat inside within minutes. Experts said the elderly couple would have grown weak and confused under those conditions.
"Mentally, neurologically they get very confused and they can progress to a point where they get altered mental status," said Dr. James Chung of the Hudson Valley Hospital Center.
According to court papers, Mrs. Pressman told police she couldn't find her way back to the car to check on her husband and didn't know he'd died until her son finished work and found him.
At the large Victorian house the family owns in Beacon, she seemed confused when she spoke with CBS 2 briefly through the door.
Police are checking reports that the younger Pressman had left his parents alone in the car once before.
Depending of the outcome of the investigation and autopsy, Theodore Pressman may face additional charges of criminally negligent homicide. He's being arraigned Tuesday in Peekskill City Court.
He spent the night locked up in jail where he apparently complained to guards repeatedly that he was cold.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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