Woman Smashes Car Window to Rescue Toddler
Sarah Oropeza, manager at Famous Footwear in Merriam, Kansas, used a tire iron to free a little girl who was trapped inside a car with a heat index was at 101 degrees.
"The windows were totally rolled up, all the doors were locked. She was covered in sweat. When I looked in the back window, she was covered in sweat. She had pulled her hair back and sweat was just dripping" Oropeza said.
Oropeza said Bland opened her trunk to try and find something to break the driver’s side window to get to the 2-year-old girl, but the window didn’t crack.The two men tried to break the window with a chair, but were unsuccessful.
A nurse was also on scene and gave the child medical attention until an ambulance arrived. A police officer bought diapers for the toddler, because there was no diaper bag in the car. Paramedics checked the girl's vitals and was later picked up by her godmother who has spoken to her goddaughter's rescuers to thank them.
Oropeza's tears turned to anger when the couple, claiming the toddler was their niece, came in the shoe store and asked to get her back.
"No emotion at all, whatsoever. The only question they had for police was if insurance was going to pay to cover the window that we broke," Oropeza said.
Oropeza and an officer told the couple to leave the store. Police ticketed the couple for child endangerment. Howe is weighing whether tougher charges are warranted that could result in jail time.
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