(USAToday) - Two children younger than 2 were left in an unattended car while their parents went to a wine tasting, police said.

Christopher Lucas, 41, and Jennie Chang, 45, of the District of Columbia were charged with second-degree cruelty to children after police received a call Saturday from a woman who walked by and saw an abandoned child in a locked Volvo near a Ritz Carlton Hotel.

Two children, a 22-month-old boy and a 2½-year-old girl, were restrained in child seats inside the car, according to charging documents. The girl was crying hysterically; the boy was not upset.

Outside the temperature was 35 degrees, and neither were wearing gloves or hats, police said.

As officers assessed how they would get into the car, Lucas approached and began to unlock the doors.

"I left to go inside the restaurant, but I was watching them," he told officers. Then Lucas reached inside the Volvo and pulled out a cellphone that showed a call to Chang and a timer that showed 58 minutes. "The children were sleeping, so I went inside."

The parents had gone inside a nearby restaurant for a wine tasting, said Gwendolyn Crump, Metropolitan Police Department spokeswoman. The children were left alone for about an hour.

When Chang arrived at the car a short time later she asked officers at the scene, "What is the problem?" according to the charging documents.

An ambulance was called to the scene, the children were examined and they were taken into protective custody.