Toms River Police Officers Rescue Baby From Hot Car

TOMS RIVER, NJ — A pair of Toms River police officers are receiving praise after they rescued a 10-month-old baby after his mother accidentally locked her keys in the car last week.

The incident happened Thursday afternoon in the parking lot of the Seacourt Pavillion shopping center, according to police and a witness.

Brittany Desch said she was sitting in her car in the parking lot outside Marshalls, checking her phone and sending some text messages, when she saw a mom unloading a stroller from the trunk of a car.

"I'm a social worker so I'm always looking around, observing," said Desch, 25, of Brick. She saw the mom shut the trunk, and as she did, the car door shut as well, she said. That's when Desch decided to stay put.

The mom grabbed the door handle and tugged, Desch said, and she saw her start to panic: The woman had left her keys and phone on the seat of the car.

"She saw me sitting there and came over and asked me to call the police," said Desch, who got out of her car and called 911, giving the dispatcher information about what had happened.

Toms River Cpl. Ryan Rush, Patrolman John Mehl and Patrolman James Manolio responded within a few minutes and quickly went to work on the car, Desch said, one on the driver's door, the other on the passenger side, trying to get in as quickly as possible. It was Rush who won the race to unlock the car, Manolio said by email.

Meanwhile, Desch said she tried to help the mom, whose name she did not know, calm down as much as she could under the circumstances.

"I'm not a mom myself, but I can't imagine," Desch said. "If it were to happen to me, I'd be in quite a panic."

Within two minutes, the car was open, and the baby boy was safe in his mother's arms, Desch said. The baby boy slept through the whole incident, which lasted less than 10 minutes.

Temperatures were in the low 80s on Thursday, according to Accuweather.com. On an 80-degree day, the interior of a car can reach 100 degrees in 10 minutes, according to the website Noheatstroke.org, a site that tracks children's heatstroke deaths from being left in cars that is maintained by San Jose State University.

Desch praised the officers for their professionalism and for their speed in responding and helping the baby.

"Something like this can happen to anyone," Desch said.

Image via Morguefile