Dispatcher Hangs Up on Mom with Baby Trapped in Hot Car

Shana Dees turned her back for only a few seconds to put up a cart after shopping at a New Tampa CVS store on Saturday.

That’s all it took for 10-month-old Jack, already in his car seat, to push just the right button to lock the doors on his mother’s Acura with the keys he’d been playing with. He also locked Dees’ purse and her cellphone inside.

Shana Dees instantly swung into action, borrowing a phone from a passerby. She called her husband to bring the spare set of keys and called 911. When she spoke with the dispatcher, however, she didn’t get the response anticipated, The Tampa Tribune reported.

“They won’t be able to try to gain access (to the) car unless the child is in some kind of distress,” the dispatcher is heard saying on the recording of the 911 call. He went on to inform Dees that “they may just smash your window.”

Then he hung up, leaving Dees without help and Jack trapped in the car, The Tribune reported.

Minutes passed as Dees watched her son, who had crawled out of his car seat, become lethargic in the hot car.

“I was just sitting there, watching him get hotter and turn redder, and he was soaked with sweat,” Dees was quoted by WPTV as saying.

About eight minutes into the ordeal, an off-duty police officer noticed the commotion and placed a call to 911 himself, ABC reported. This time a different dispatcher answered and sent help immediately. In the meantime, another customer borrowed a wrench from CVS and broke open a window as police and paramedics arrived on the scene.

All told it took about 15 minutes to free the boy from the car. He suffered heat exhaustion, but is OK now.

As for the dispatcher, his actions are under investigation. Tampa Police Department spokeswoman Andrea Davis told ABC he is on administrative duty for the time being, not allowed to answer 911 calls, and faces disciplinary action.

Last week, Sarasota County Deputy Ray Vleck filmed himself sitting inside a parked SUV for nearly 10 minutes as the temperature inside rose to more than 110 degrees. The demonstration was meant to raise awareness about the dangers of leaving anything alive in a car on a hot day.

Sarasota deputies estimate about 23 children have died after being left in hot vehicles so far this year.

See Also: WATCH: Deputy Shows How Hot Cars Can Get

Photo Credit: Patch File Photo