A toddler who was left in a hot car was rescued by authorities and shoppers who noticed him alone and sleeping in the locked vehicle with all the windows up, according to reports. The moment he was rescued was captured on video.
The shoppers quickly alerted the Walmart employees who called 911. A witness told the news station that the boy appeared to be sweating in the car. Temperatures on the evening of May 21 had reached around 90 degrees—which is the hottest day so far this year for the area.
When police arrived, they had to break one of the windows to retrieve the boy from the vehicle. He was given water and comforted by good samaritans and officers until his father showed up.
The boy’s father, Christopher Urgent, was questioned by police and was subsequently arrested for cruelty to children, reported WSB-TV, citing police.
Meanwhile, the boy was taken to Piedmont Henry Hospital and released.
Police have not released details of how long the boy had been in the car before the good samaritans had spotted him.
In a not so fortunate case, a toddler in New Jersey died after being left in a hot car in early May.
A source then told the outlet that there was some miscommunication about whether the mother or father would take the girl from the vehicle.
A neighbor discovered the girl had died at around 2 p.m. that day and has spoken out about the incident.
“My wife was leaving to work and she walked out and she saw the mother crying holding the baby in her hands,” the neighbor said. “My wife walked in and said call Hatzolah, which is the local EMS, the Jewish EMS.”
He added: “I performed CPR for the first couple minutes until first responders arrived and then they came and took over.”
The neighbor said he saw the car’s front window rolled down.
“They’re loving parents, very devoted parents,” the neighbor said. “It’s gonna take a while to make sense of it and make something out of this, but at this point the community will go forward and be together and strong.”
“The National Safety Council advises parents and caregivers to stick to a routine and avoid distractions to reduce the risk of forgetting a child. Keep car doors locked so children cannot gain access, and teach them that cars are not play areas. Place a purse, briefcase or even a left shoe in the back seat to force you to take one last glance,” the website says.
