Toddler Crushed by TV in Hartford Home

The Hartford Police Major Crimes Division and Special Investigations Division are investigating after a 32-inch tube-style TV fell onto a toddler at a home on Garden Street Saturday night.

According to police, the 2-year-old boy was crushed when a TV fell onto him in a second-floor apartment at 431 Garden Street in Hartford at 9:21 p.m. Saturday, police said.

The toddler was bleeding and unresponsive when emergency officials arrived. EMS responders performed CPR on the child and rushed him to St. Francis Hospital. He was later transferred to Connecticut Children's Medical Center for emergency surgery, authorities said.

The child remains in critical condition, police said.

According to the building supervisor, a downstairs neighbor heard a loud crash when the TV fell, followed by a scream.

A neighbor who knows the family spoke highly of the family and said he heard the child received brain damage as a result of his injuries.

Police said they believe adults were inside the home at the time, and that the incident appears to be accidental.

The incident is still under investigation.

According to the journal "Pediatrics," the rate of children being injured by falling TVs is increasing and has nearly doubles between 1990 and 2011. Some contributing factors are that families have more televisions in the house than they did in the past and many are placed on furniture.

The researchers recommend properly anchoring TVs and avoiding placing remote controls or other "attractive items" that children might climb for on top of them. 

Contact Us