A Jackson man is being hailed as a hero after saving the life of a baby left in a hot car in Howell.
At approximately 1pm on Monday, Patrolman Daniel Scherbinski #663 and Patrolman Edward Homiek #665 responded to Kohl’s located at 4799 Route 9 in Howell for a report of a child left unattended in a vehicle with the windows closed and doors locked.
Upon arrival at the Kohl’s parking lot, Ptl. Scherbinski and Homiek located the vehicle, which had its front passenger window shattered and an empty child car seat in the rear seat.
The officers quickly located the calling parties, Steve Eckel, 53 years old of Jackson and Sarah Mazzone, 30 years old of Howell. Eckel and Mazzone, who did not know each other prior to this incident, explained that they walked past the vehicle at about the same time and observed a four-month old child in the vehicle unattended with the windows closed and doors locked. The vehicle was off.
“The baby appeared to be in a great deal of distress-screaming, crying, bright red and sweating profusely,” police said. “The baby was fully clothed with a blanket partially covering her. The temperature at the time was in the upper 80s.”
Eckel grabbed a sledgehammer from his vehicle and used it to break the front passenger window of the vehicle and unlock the vehicle. Mazzone and Eckel carried the baby into the air-conditioned Kohl’s vestibule and contacted police.
While officers were speaking to Eckel and Mazzone, they observed a female – later identified as the mother of the distressed Lakewood baby – approach the vehicle in the parking lot and start to panic. The officers approached her and advised her they had her baby inside the store.
Howell First Aid responded to the scene and treated the baby, who by that time was doing much better as a result of the air conditioning. The investigation revealed that the baby was left in the vehicle in the above described condition for approximately forty minutes.
The mother was arrested and charged with endangering the welfare of a child. She was released pending court.
The baby was turned over to the custody of her father, who declined any further medical treatment for the baby. The baby appeared to be doing much better after being fed and cooled down.
Chief Andrew Kudrick stated, “I recognize the civilians who took immediate action to rescue this child, for they truly saved a life.”
Community activist Rabbi Moshe Zev Weisberg had nothing but praise for Mr. Eckel.
“On behalf of the leadership of Lakewood community, we’d like express our extreme gratitude for Mr. Eckel’s involvement in the unfortunate incident yesterday,” Rabbi Weisberg told TLS. “His unselfish actions were extremely helpful in ensuring this incident had a good outcome. With gratitude to the almighty, it was truly an act of Divine Providence that Mr. Eckel was at the right place at the right time.”
[TLS]
Thank G-d that this man was sent to save this baby. But I beg of you, TLS, to send out a reminder to all readers that it’s not safe to leave a little one in the car for even a few minutes. At today’s temperature, it can easily reach 125 degrees inside of a car, enough to cause permanent damage or death in minutes. No sale is more important than the life of our little ones.
Wow, talk about being in the right place at the right time. Kudos to the two people who saved the baby!!
Concerned mom- presumably the mother forgot her baby and did not leave the child intentionally. There are now several devices including a setting on Waze to help you remember your baby.
For a father to forget a baby i cant understand but i could hear it, hes not used to having the child with him in his daily routine. but a mother who is tied at the hip with a newborn every minute of the day how is it even possible
FTmom- according to other sources, she had a 13 year old and 7 year old with her. I’m sure she thought she’d only be gone for a minute, and that if the car was air conditioned it would stay cool enough. I still believe it was an honest mistake and B”H the baby will be okay.
Isn’t it pathetic that you need a device to remind you not to forget to leave your children behind and/or unattended. So, sad.
How about an open letter from the parents to Eckel and posted on TLS?
It amazes me how people are so sure this mother did it on purpose and are so quick to judge another yid. Nobody wants to put their infant in danger and it’s pretty fair to say it was a mistake. The fact that she had 2 other kids with her doesn’t mean she remembered that her baby was in the car. It’s summer and schedules change. She may have thought she left the baby home with her husband and the 13 year old strapped her in the car. Anything could have happened!
How about everybody just stops judging people when you have no clue what the circumstances were, and just say thank God the baby is OK.
why is my comment still in moderation, I didn’t say anything wrong
get the back seat minder. even though you’ll never forget your kid in the car is it not worth it to have to possibly dave a life? just installed it a couple of weeks ago. it’s great
Kerry, same thing happens to me all the time. I don’t break any of the “comment rules” and they do not post my comment.
A good idea is to leave one shoe near the baby’s car seat so when you got out of the car – you remember – I am positive this was not on purpose the last weeks of summer brings a lot of change in schedules,
B’h
Open miracle, for the woman to notice and this former deputy to have sledge hammer. The mother feels bad enough. A harsh reminder/message from Hashem, watch your kids
Before you jude anyone you need to hear both sides of the story. Everyone is saying she had 2 of her older girls with her how could she forget the baby? It so happens to be those 2 girls came in a different car with the grandmother and were going to meet the mother there and go shopping together. mistakes happen and she ONLY had the baby with her. i was there and i spoke to the grandmother. so stop bashing her and think about the trauma and guilt shes going through
My biggest fear ever is forgetting a baby in the car.
As a mother who has had sleepless nights post baby my memory has at times shocked me at how forgetful it can be. It goes blank. Its not a voluntary action. Its complete memory lapse as no sane mother would leave her newborn or purposely forget. Its horrible and terrible yet never judge as it can happen to the most giving and loving ppl.
im not judging here as this could have been an accident BUT
i have seen woman go into the grocery stores and leave there young kids in the car with a baby under 9 months many many times and the oldest are no more then 5 , and im sorry to say but that is unacceptable
A: someone could kidnap them or other stuff and B: its in a parking lot where they can get hurt and no supervision … is your shopping really that important to leave young children in the car alone . that you couldn’t wait for someone to watch them or ask a favor or even have it delivered?!?! sadly i see this at least once a week and im going to start calling the police
I come from a family of six children, one sister handicapped (crippled). Not once did my mother leave any of us alone. There is NO excuse for this. I hope that they will get in touch with this wonderful man who saved their child’s life. I have four grandchildren. I don’t let them walk in the street, I see many children in the middle of the street when we have sidewalks. I just don’t get it. Anyway, I am so happy that this story has a happy ending.
The mother is a very responsible and dedicated mother. There is always more to a story.
ANYONE who is judgemental about this woman and thinks this could never happen to them should read this article. It is eye-opening and gut-wrenching. http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/magazine/fatal-distraction-forgetting-a-child-in-thebackseat-of-a-car-is-a-horrifying-mistake-is-it-a-crime/2014/06/16/8ae0fe3a-f580-11e3-a3a5-42be35962a52_story.html
For all those self righteous people judging this woman. I hope Hashem doesn’t judge you the same way in a month from now. It hurts to see how quick people are ready to vilify someone else and accuse her of deliberately committing a cruel act on her child.I am sure there is no one feeling more agony over this than the mother herself.
It is very rare for a mother to PURPOSELY leave a baby in a hot car alone for 40 minutes on a hot day. Even the most responsible mother can forget that she brought the baby with her and if the baby is asleep in the back, it is relatively easy to forget that she had been brought along and not left at home with someone watching her. I would NEVER leave any of my children alone in a car and yet, I did once leave a newborn baby in the car for a few minutes BY MISTAKE because I COMPLETELY forgot that I had brought him with me and did not leave him with my teenage daughter (the last minute before leaving, I decided to take him and not leave him with her). It was dark out and dark in the car and he was asleep in his carseat in the back seat and after about 5 minutes in the store I suddenly remembered that I had decided to bring him along and not leave him with my daughter as originally planned – I panicked and RAN to the car. That’s when I learned to never judge because until that night I had thought I would NEVER do such a thing. But I did. It was 100% by mistake and I was very, very shaken up from the experience but it can happen to the most responsible parent. The fact that there are apps and devices to remind people to remove their baby from the car shows just how common it is for a parent to forget a sleeping baby who is out of sight in the back of the car – even the most responsible, dedicated parent.
kerry where can one buy the backseat reminder. & what does it do?
Well this all started when they started advising putting car seats in back seats, due to Air Bags. In olden days, we put the car seats in front, so there was less chance to forget.
every lady I know is allways running into a clothing store for “just 2 minutes” however we all know that once they are in the store their brains go into auto mode and they enter into La La Land and 2 minutes ends up becoming 2 Hours
I tink that police should use their time to arrest REAL criminals instead of taking it out on this poor lady who made a mistake. This area is full of crime & illegal activity.