Father in Panic After Locking Keys and 1-Year-Old in Truck, So Inmates Help Him Break In
Everyone, at some point in their lives, has probably locked their keys in the car — on more than one occasion.
When one man from Florida did this, the situation quickly escalated because it wasn’t just his keys he couldn’t get to.
The man’s 1-year-old daughter was trapped in the car as well, leaving both dad and mom in a panic. Thankfully, help wasn’t far off, though it did come from an unexpected source.
The car was parked outside the West Pasco Judicial Center at the time, according to WFTS. Some officers and a handful of inmates — of all people — were working to repair medians outside and jumped in to help.
The entire ordeal was caught on film and shared by the child’s mother, Shadow Lantry, on Facebook. “This was a weird day…” she wrote.
Weird is right. Enlisting inmates to help break into a vehicle? It doesn’t get any weirder than that. Of course, some deputies were close by, monitoring the whole thing.
According to WFTS, Lantry’s husband didn’t realize their Chevy Tahoe was locked until he’d already shut the doors after securing their daughter in her car seat. The keys were in the front seat.
Luckily, the toddler wasn’t in the vehicle for long and the weather was mild at just 72 degrees, WSB-TV reported.
Thanks to a wire hanger and one inmate’s less than conventional day-saving skills, the baby was rescued after just two minutes.
Sheriff Chris Nocco of the Pasco Sheriff’s Office shared with WFTS that this particular situation was indeed “unique.”
“There’s only a very small percentage of those criminals out there that want to fight us and want to attack us, but a lot of them, like these individuals, they know they made bad mistakes, bad choices, but they want to do the right thing in life,” Nocco explained.
And, on this particular day, the right thing was precisely what they did.
One-year-old Dallas was reportedly unharmed though a little shaken up by all the commotion. Her mother shared with the news outlet that she was “grateful for everyone involved and hopes to learn the identity of those inmates so she can contribute to their commissary accounts.”
A happy ending for all, it would seem. We’re glad everyone is okay and that these unexpected heroes had a chance to do something good.
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