Police smash window to rescue two toddlers left in locked car
NSW Police officers were forced to take drastic action in a hot northern Sydney carpark and smash a car’s windows to rescue the two young children trapped inside.
The officers were alerted to the potential danger by concerned shoppers who believed they had spotted a child in the silver Honda. Upon arrival, however, the police, firefighters, and paramedics on scene were shocked to discover that there were actually two children trapped in there - one aged one, the other four.
After first trying to unlock the car and proving “unsuccessful” in their efforts, as NSW Police later announced in a statement, officers were forced to break the vehicle’s window to get inside and access the children.
The pair were reportedly in their carseats, waiting for their mother to return. She did - as police were already well into their rescue.
"A woman returned to the vehicle a short time later and was spoken to by police," the statement by NSW Police read. "Inquiries continue."
The entire incident was caught on camera and quickly uploaded to social media, with many strong opinions coming to the surface in the wake of the near miss.
Two young children have been freed from a locked car in a Sydney shopping centre carpark, with emergency services' rescue efforts captured on film | @nswpolice @FRNSW @NRMA pic.twitter.com/L2Ha1EhipX
— 10 News First Sydney (@10NewsFirstSyd) February 27, 2023
“The toddlers' mother reportedly returned to the car in a distressed state as the scene unfolded,” 10News tweeted. “Paramedics assessed the boy and girl at the scene, with neither requiring significant medical attention.”
“Hopefully she was charged,” replied one woman.
“Why are parents still doing this?” questioned another.
And while many called for the mother to be charged for her actions, some were not so quick to condemn her, instead suggesting that the situation was blown out of proportion.
“In a ventilated garage ... not in the open sun. Turns out the kids were fine ... if not traumatised by the police actions that saw windows being smashed and glass splinters flying everywhere,” complained one. “Nothing like an overreaction on a slow news day!”
“Underground carpark, 26 deg (max) outside, no treatment required,” agreed another. “Yeah, not ideal but really no danger, yeah? Couldn't the NRMA guy get in less dramatically?”
While the act may seem unnecessary to some, after the recent tragedy that saw a three-year-old boy lose his life when left inside a blisteringly hot car, to many it was the right move to prioritise the children.
Of the latest incident, NRMA’s Peter Khoury told Yahoo News Australia about the number of children being left in cars, and how they consider it to be “alarming”.
"January this year we rescued 213 children, it was the highest month in five years," he explained. "And 2022 was the highest in 10 years considering both children and pets [4267]."
"The overwhelming majority of those cases are accidental where people lock their keys in the car with their child and call us frantically."
He went on to explain that there are a few possible reasons for the increase in cases. One being that perhaps the Covid-19 pandemic had people preferring to keep children and pets in the car rather than risking exposure outside. And the other being the weather, with Khoury stating “we didn’t have a particularly hot 2022 and so because of that people thought 'well, it’s not hot, it's not an issue'. Whereas we tell people that regardless of the weather, it's not safe to leave children in vehicles.”
Images: 7News