This is one of those real head-shaking moments. Then watch the irony at the very end of the story: “feel free to call 911 any time”.
Omaha, Nebraska: A woman taking her niece out of the SUV after an outing to the pool was shocked when the wind blew the door shut with her keys and the child inside. The car automatically locked. The aunt, the girl’s mom, and two other relatives frantically tried to get the door open using a hanger and screwdriver, and, when they couldn’t, they called 911. The cops arrived, broke the window, and got the child out, safe and sound.
Then the cops ticketed the mom on suspicion of child abuse by neglect.
As The Omaha World-Herald reports:
Lt. Darci Tierney, a police spokeswoman, said the ticket was not an overreaction by the officer who responded to the 911 call.
“We make decisions in the moment with all the information we have available,” she said. “This can be a super dangerous situation. People die in these circumstances.”
Children die when they are forgotten in cars, not when they are about to be taken out of cars, the wind slams the door shut, and the family immediately does everything humanly possible to get the door open quickly.
The girl, just shy of 2, was in the car for about 15 minutes. It was a 93-degree day, and 97 degrees in the un-air-conditioned car. The girl appeared warm to the paramedic—um, of course she’d be warm—so she was taken to the local hospital. She turned out to be fine.
The wind, by the way, was gusting up to 40 miles per hour that day.
To add insult to non-injury, Lt. Tierney is also quoted as reminding people that in a situation like this one, “Don’t be afraid to call 911 for help.”
Yeah, and be ready to call a defense lawyer, too.