Spokane Valley mother arrested after abandoning toddler

A Spokane Valley woman was arrested Tuesday evening after deputies say she left her car alongside the road with her 2-year-old daughter inside. Hailey A. Helgeson, 22, is in the Spokane County Jail facing charges of driving under the influence and reckless endangerment. Her bond was set at $10,000. The woman arrived at her home in the 800 block of South Best without the child or her car around 8:30 p.m. Her husband asked her where the child was and she initially replied that she thought the girl was at home, said Spokane County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Deputy Mark Gregory. Helgeson finally confessed to her husband that she had run out of gas while out driving around and couldn’t remember where she left the car, which had their daughter inside, Gregory said. Deputies searched the area for about 30 minutes before a family member found the car parked in the 16600 block of East 23rd Avenue. “The child could have been in the car up to two hours,” Gregory said. The child was alert and appeared unharmed. She was examined by medics before being released to her father, who had not been drinking, Gregory said.