A great-granddad rummaged through a salvage yard while his great-granddaughter was left sweating in the near 80-degree Savannah heat, police say.

Joe Palmer, 67, was charged Tuesday with cruelty to children and neglect after he allegedly left the girl in a car while he sifted through auto parts in the Cash and Carry parking lot, according to the Savannah-Chatham Metropolitan Police Department.

She had been in the car with the windows cracked one-inch for an hour.

A bystander found the 6-month-old girl crying in the back seat of a car and called police.

Police watched the baby as a bystander got a tool to force open one of the car doors. Once open, an officer with paramedic experience cooled the girl’s body temperature until Emergency Medical Services arrived.

The girl was transported to Memorial University Medical Center in serious condition, police said.

The baby’s mother was notified. Palmer was found and arrested at the scene.

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