Officer Rescues 1-Year-Old Girl Who Locked Herself in BMW at Norwalk Library

An officer rescued a 1-year-old girl found locked in a hot BMW at a Norwalk library late morning on Friday.

Police learned that the baby was playing with car keys inside the car, accidentally locking herself in the car. The nanny was outside of the car at the time and she called police right away.

Norwalk Patrol Officer Jeremy Salley responded to the Rowayton Library at 11:33 a.m. on Friday. A baby girl had been locked in the car for 10 minutes. Her face was red and she was sweating, so the responding police officer used a spring-loaded "window punch" to safely break the driver's side window and get in the car. He crawled through the broken window to rescue her when the security system on the car prohibited him from opening the door.

Once he got inside, he said the car was very warm, about 100 degrees. Officers were concerned because of how the sun can quickly heat up a car in minutes.

"Officer Salley's quick thinking and calculated actions kept the child safe from harm," Norwalk Police Chief Thomas Kulhawik said.

Salley said the rescue only took about a minute.

“She was little nervous, crying a little bit. But as soon as I kind of grabbed her and passed her and got her inside to the A/C she was smiling and very happy," Salley said.

Norwalk EMS personnel medically evaluated the 1-year-old girl at the scene.

Police didn't say how the baby got the keys or release details on the sequence of events leading up to the baby locking herself in the car.

“You just have to careful because you know I’m a parent myself and kids do the darndest things you know and just something like that, you know, kids playing with your keys and locks herself inside the car, anything with a kid you have to be careful," Salley said. 

Norwalk police said that the incident was an accident, so no charges will be filed.The woman is the baby's nanny.

The Norwalk Police Department reminds members of the public that they can report incidents to the department's tip line at 203-854-3111, submit anonymous tips online through the department's website at www.norwalkpd.com or text tips to CRIMES (274637) by typing NPD and the information in the text field.

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