A former sergeant jumped into action and rescued a baby trapped inside a hot car.
A retired police sergeant jumped into action when he found a 4-month-old baby screaming inside a locked hot car.
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Steve Eckel was walking through a New Jersey Kohl's parking lot when he spotted the infant crying inside.
“I’m in front of Kohl’s…I’ve got an infant in a locked car…The baby’s crying in the car,” he can be heard saying in a 911 call.
Eckel remembered he had a sledgehammer in his car, and, with the help of a stranger, busted through the car window to pull out the child.
Police said temperatures were in the 80s and the baby had been in the sweltering for 40 minutes.
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In Kohl’s security footage, Eckel is seen bringing the baby into the department store lobby to cool her off in the air conditioning — which first responders said helped her recover.
The mother of the baby was arrested and charged with child endangerment. The child was placed in the care of her father.
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