Mom Held,left Baby Outdoors In Cold

A YEAR-OLD girl was in good condition and suffered "no lasting injuries" after being left in a shopping cart yesterday near the Bucks Meadow Apartments, on Knights Road in Bensalem, a Bensalem police spokesman said.

Police arrested the baby's mother, Loretta Hall, 30, of Middletown, Bucks County, and charged her with endangering the welfare of a child and recklessly endangering another person. Hall was arraigned before District Judge Robert Wagner and was being held in the Bucks County prison on $50,000 bail.

Investigators found that Hall had consumed alcohol and was taking Klonopin pills Saturday night and Sunday morning. Klonopin - a brand name for clonazepam - is used to control seizures in epilepsy and for the treatment of panic disorder, and is among the 10 most widely abused drugs.

Police said Hall appeared intoxicated when she was arrested.

Hall's daughter was treated at St. Mary Medical Center, in Middletown, and is in the custody of the Bucks County Children & Youth Social Services Agency.

A police report said that two residents of the apartment complex noticed the baby alone and crying in a shopping cart about 7:30 a.m. Sunday. While one person cared for the toddler, the other walked around the complex and found the girl's mother a few minutes later, police said.

The baby was "very cold" and not properly dressed for the 35-degree temperature, and her diaper was "saturated," a police spokesman said.