Man jeered as cop rescues tot from locked, sweltering car
DALE CARRUTHERS, QMI Agency
First posted: Sunday, June 01, 2014 05:51 PM EDT | Updated: Sunday, June 01, 2014 07:12 PM EDT
LONDON, ONT. - Angry onlookers hurled catcalls at a man as he was arrested and accused of leaving a toddler inside a sweltering car in the parking lot of a mall.
An ugly scene started after police arrived at White Oaks Mall when someone reported a baby alone in a locked vehicle about 4 p.m. Saturday, said witness Bob Neilly, 57.
He was part a small crowd that gathered around a parked car, in which a boy was locked with the windows rolled up.
Neilly said a police cruiser with sirens and flashing lights raced into the parking lot and a quick-thinking officer smashed the passenger window with his baton then unlocked the doors.
A second officer plucked the 14-month-old from the back seat on the driver's side.
"The kid looked very pale. He was just soaking wet with sweat, like his hair was all matted down," Neilly said. "He looked a little despondent."
Soon afterwards, four people -- a man, an older woman and two children -- approached the car, Neilly said. Police spoke to the man briefly, then handcuffed and arrested him.
That's when the jeering began, Neilly said, the crowd shouting that the man should be ashamed and shouldn't have children.
"It was quite heated," Neilly said.
An ambulance arrived soon after that and paramedics drove the toddler to hospital for treatment. Police said his condition wasn't life-threatening.
Investigators wouldn't say how long the child was left in the car.
Environment Canada records show the outside temperature at the time was 24 degrees; however, on a sunny day, the temperature inside a closed car would have been several degrees higher, even after only a few minutes.
A London man is charged with endangering a child. Investigators didn't say whether the man is the boy's father.
Man jeered as cop rescues tot from locked, sweltering car | Canada | News | Toro
When the hell are people going to learn that you do. Not. Do. This. Ever. Are people really this stupid? Do they live under rocks and have not heard the of any of the stories after stories circulating through the media of this being done, often with deadly results? Just what the hell is it going to take?
DALE CARRUTHERS, QMI Agency
First posted: Sunday, June 01, 2014 05:51 PM EDT | Updated: Sunday, June 01, 2014 07:12 PM EDT
LONDON, ONT. - Angry onlookers hurled catcalls at a man as he was arrested and accused of leaving a toddler inside a sweltering car in the parking lot of a mall.
An ugly scene started after police arrived at White Oaks Mall when someone reported a baby alone in a locked vehicle about 4 p.m. Saturday, said witness Bob Neilly, 57.
He was part a small crowd that gathered around a parked car, in which a boy was locked with the windows rolled up.
Neilly said a police cruiser with sirens and flashing lights raced into the parking lot and a quick-thinking officer smashed the passenger window with his baton then unlocked the doors.
A second officer plucked the 14-month-old from the back seat on the driver's side.
"The kid looked very pale. He was just soaking wet with sweat, like his hair was all matted down," Neilly said. "He looked a little despondent."
Soon afterwards, four people -- a man, an older woman and two children -- approached the car, Neilly said. Police spoke to the man briefly, then handcuffed and arrested him.
That's when the jeering began, Neilly said, the crowd shouting that the man should be ashamed and shouldn't have children.
"It was quite heated," Neilly said.
An ambulance arrived soon after that and paramedics drove the toddler to hospital for treatment. Police said his condition wasn't life-threatening.
Investigators wouldn't say how long the child was left in the car.
Environment Canada records show the outside temperature at the time was 24 degrees; however, on a sunny day, the temperature inside a closed car would have been several degrees higher, even after only a few minutes.
A London man is charged with endangering a child. Investigators didn't say whether the man is the boy's father.
Man jeered as cop rescues tot from locked, sweltering car | Canada | News | Toro
When the hell are people going to learn that you do. Not. Do. This. Ever. Are people really this stupid? Do they live under rocks and have not heard the of any of the stories after stories circulating through the media of this being done, often with deadly results? Just what the hell is it going to take?
