Pensacola security officer saves motionless baby in hot car
Pensacola FL October 11 2019
A Florida mall security officer on patrol of the parking lot spotted a baby not moving inside a hot vehicle.
The baby boy found alone at the Cordova Mall and was so overheated that he didn’t wake up when officers banged on the car’s windows, according to police.
According to arrest reports, a Cordova Mall security guard contacted the Pensacola Police Department around 3 p.m. Tuesday after observing a baby alone inside a black Mitsubishi parked near Dillard’s.
The security officer reported that the baby was lifeless and needed to be rescued immediately.
Upon their arrival, officers banged on the car’s windows trying to attract the infant’s attention. The baby was unresponsive to the noise, a report stated. The officers found the doors unlocked, entered the Mitsubishi and retrieved the child.
Even in an officer’s arms, the infant remained unresponsive, a report stated.
As an officer began to touch the baby’s arms and feet, “the infant began to respond, but was very lethargic, and was warm to the touch,” the report stated.
An officer continued to keep the child alert while searching for bottles inside the car to use to hydrate the infant, a report stated. Officers found a baby bag without any bottles inside.
The Pensacola Fire Department arrived and placed the baby inside a cruiser before EMS arrived and transported the child to nearby Sacred Heart Hospital, a report stated, where he was found to not be seriously harmed.
Approximately 36 minutes after security first called police, two men approached the Mitsubishi parked in front of Dillard’s west side entrance, a report stated. One of the men was the child’s father, 21-year-old Steven Kroeger of Milton. The other man was 22-year-old Brian Reeves of Milton.
Both Kroeger and Reeves were charged with child neglect and arrested Tuesday.
The baby’s mother later told officers that her husband, Kroeger, had given her a ride to an appointment at Sacred Heart Hospital, and she had been at her appointment when the baby was left in the vehicle, a report stated.
Kroeger was booked into the Escambia County Jail without bond and Reeves was booked into the Escambia County Jail with a $5,000 bond. County records indicated that both men remained in custody as of Thursday.
