PALM COAST, Fla. — Deputies in Flagler County took quick action to save a 1-year-old girl who was locked inside a hot car.
According to the sheriff's office, deputies were called on Monday, May 20, to the parking lot of a Walmart in Palm Coast after a woman called 911 reporting her daughter was accidentally locked inside a car.
Both deputies and Flagler County Fire Rescue crews were sent to the location. Deputies arrived first, body camera video shows.
Once there, deputies found a man and woman standing outside a red car. It wasn't running.
The man reportedly told deputies he had put the little girl in the car before going to the other side and discovering the door was locked. The keys, too, were locked inside the car.
Deputy Harrison can be heard asking them how long the child had been in the car. About 10 minutes was the reply.
Armed with this information, Harrison checks with fire rescue to see how far away they are. Not close enough; and, after seeing the child sweating and likely in distress, Harrison decides to break the window.
He quickly walks back to his patrol vehicle and grabs Shatterballs to help him safely break the window. Back at the car, Harrison breaks the rear passenger window farthest away from the little girl.
After clearing the glass with his baton, Harrison is able to unlock the car. The 1-year-old can be heard crying as her mom opens the driver's side door and picks her up.
According to the sheriff's office, fire rescue did arrive and examined the girl. She was OK, despite being exposed to extreme heat.
“Thanks to the quick response of our deputies, this child was safely rescued, and a tragic incident was avoided,” Sheriff Rick Staly said in a statement. "Although this was an accident, I would like to take this time to remind parents of the dangers of leaving a child in a parked car at any time, especially if it is not running. Heatstroke can happen very quickly, even if it does not seem that hot outside. Remember, if it has a heartbeat, do not leave them in your car.”
Hot car deaths in Florida
National nonprofit Kids and Car Safety just released its 2024 analysis of hot car deaths. Each year, 38 children under the age of 14 die in a hot car, the nonprofit said.
According to its data, between 1992 and 2023 Florida recorded 118 hot car deaths. In comparison, only Texas has reported more deaths with 155 in that time frame.
The nonprofit says the majority of hot car deaths happen when a child is unknowingly left in a car or manages to get into a car. It says while many may assume the opposite, few cases involve drugs, alcohol or neglect.
The data shows that 79 of the 118 children who died in a hot car in Florida were unknowingly left inside. Another 18 got into the hot car without an adult noticing. Only 18 deaths happened after someone knowingly left the child inside the car.
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