Michigan Mom Locks Baby in Car + Says 911 Refused to Send Help [VIDEO]
A Michigan woman who accidentally locked her two-month-old baby inside her car says a 911 dispatcher refused to treat the situation as an emergency and neglected to send immediate help.
Lacey Guyton was visiting her grandparents in Waterford last week. It was a typical hot August afternoon and she put her daughter Raina in the car as she prepared to head back home. The doors of her Dodge Journey locked inexplicably and she began to panic.
Guyton tells WJBK she tried to break one of the car's windows with a chunk of asphalt, but that attempt was unsuccessful. She called 911 and was told that in a "non-emergency" situation like this the dispatcher would only be able to send a tow company, not police or rescue personnel.
"She said we have to call a tow company," Guyton said. "I'm like, grandma, we don't have time to call a tow company. Like I don't know how many minutes I have until she's passing out."
Upon calling 911 a second time, the family got the same dispatcher and received the same answer.
Finally, Guyton was able to use a tool to break one of the car's windows.
"She was really sweaty, screaming, and just drenched in sweat," Guyton said. "She was probably in there like 10 minutes, so we immediately got her out, got her inside, cooled her down."
Police Chief Scott Underwood of the Waterford Police Department said the incident was a mistake.
"You call 911, you expect for somebody to come and give you some help, and we certainly should have gone and done that. We made a mistake and we need to fix that."
Underwood says the veteran dispatcher will face disciplinary action.