Moment sweat-drenched child is rescued from sweltering Utah car while mother was taking driving test
The unidentified child was discovered drenched in sweat and acting 'sluggish' when officers with the Heber City Police Department entered the Driver's License Division parking lot on August 4.
Authorities arrived at the scene at 9.04am after a person reported seeing the child lying in the back of the car, which was locked and turned off for more than an hour.
The officer saved the child, who had taken his shirt off due to the heat, after realizing the driver's door was unlocked.
He then told the officer that he was trapped inside for a long time and that he was looking for his mother, Eliana Suaza Argote, 34.
Argote was located by police inside the building soon after her son was examined by paramedics. He was lethargic and had high blood pressure.
The mom told police she did not leave her child for very long, but according to surveillance footage, she entered around 8am and did not come back outside to check on her son for more than 68 minutes, court documents reviewed by ABC4 revealed.
The outside temperature reached 91F that day, meaning it was about 120F in the car.
Dramatic police bodycam footage showed a male officer approaching a silver Chevy sedan with the crying child inside.
Once he opened the unlocked door, the officer spoke to the seven-year-old in Spanish, asking how he was doing.
The child's voice then trembled as he replied to the officer. The cop then adjusted the driver's seat to gain access to the boy.
The child, dressed in only shorts, then grabbed a long-sleeved striped shirt and put it back on as the officer told him he would get him water.
The cop then walked back to his partner, saying: 'That car's hot as hell dude. And the kid's crying cause he's hot.'
'I'm gonna grab him some water,' the officer said as his female partner went to check on the kid.
'He said the mom's in there, probably at the DMV,' the male officer added as he pointed toward the brown brick building.
The video then cut to the officer opening a bottle of water for the young boy who immediately drank it.
Paramedics were then seen assessing the child, who cops got out of the car and onto nearby grass.
'So, he's been in the hot car for at least an hour and 20 minutes,' the male cop told the paramedic.
'Oh my gosh,' the first responder replied as she interacted with the boy.
A phone was left inside the scorching car with the child, who eventually gave officers a family member they could contact about the incident.
Argote has been charged with one count of intentional or knowing child abuse.
She was booked into the Wasatch County Jail but has since been released on bail. Argote due back in court on August 27.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
9 minutes ago
- The Independent
Trump's nominee for Bureau of Labor Statistics was Jan 6 ‘bystander' outside Capitol, says White House
Donald Trump 's pick to lead the Bureau of Labor Statistics was a 'bystander' outside the Capitol as the Jan. 6 insurrection unfolded, according to the White House. The president on Monday nominated Dr. E.J. Antoni to lead the BLS after firing the agency's commissioner earlier this month, accusing her of manipulating jobs data. In recent days, videos have emerged of the 37-year-old economist from the right-wing Heritage Foundation think tank among a mob of Trump supporters who swarmed the Capitol on January 6, 2021. Antoni is not believed to be among those who entered the building, and the video does not show him crossing barricades or demonstrating. The footage places Antoni at the Capitol about an hour after rioters tore down police barricades, as other insurrectionists poured onto its grounds. In U.S. Capitol Police surveillance video unearthed by NBC News, Antoni was spotted outside the Capitol building among a sea of supporters waving 'Stop the Steal' and 'Trump 2020' flags. In the clip, Antoni is seen walking away from the crowd on the building's west side as chants of 'USA' ring out and tear gas plumes in the background. Far-right radio host Alex Jones can be heard speaking over a megaphone. Other footage shows Antoni at the Capitol's east side, walking away from the building, according to NBC News. The video was initially released by the GOP-led House Administration Subcommittee on Oversight and archived from the social media website Parler. A White House official told NBC News Wednesday that Antoni was in Washington, D.C. for in-person meetings with his then employer, which, according to his LinkedIn profile, was the conservative think tank, the Committee to Unleash Prosperity. 'These pictures show EJ Antoni, a bystander to the events of January 6th, observing and then leaving the Capitol area,' White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers told the broadcaster in an email statement. He added it was 'wrong and defamatory to suggest EJ engaged in anything inappropriate or illegal.' While Antoni has not been accused of any wrongdoing, more than 1,500 rioters were charged with crimes connected to the attack on the Capitol building. On his first day back in office on January 20, Trump granted clemency to almost all of the defendants. Trump announced his intentions to install Antoni as BLS commissioner after removing Erika McEntarfer, whom he accused of using 'phony' numbers in the July jobs report that showed private companies adding just 73,000 positions, below projections. Under Antoni's stewardship, Trump wrote on Truth Social Monday that the numbers released would be 'HONEST and ACCURATE.' Antoni, who will face Senate confirmation, wrote on X last week that the bureau, part of the Labor Department, needed to revise its methods to 'rebuild the trust that has been lost over the last several years.' However, his nomination has intensified fears among critics that Trump wants a partisan supporter at the helm of a bureau to manipulate data to support his policies. Antoni was a contributor to the group's Project 2025, a controversial blueprint document outlining many of the moves the Trump administration has taken in office.
The Independent
39 minutes ago
- The Independent
State of emergency declared in New Mexico following rise in crime and drug use
New Mexico 's Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham has declared a state of emergency across a significant portion of the state's northern region, citing a surge in violent crime and drug trafficking. The declaration, issued on Wednesday, makes $750,000 available to local governments and tribal communities grappling with the crisis. The emergency measures target Rio Arriba County, an expansive area stretching from Española to the Colorado state line, which includes two Native American pueblo communities. Local authorities and tribal officials in the county had called for state reinforcements to combat the escalating crime and hardships linked to illicit drug use. This region has long been plagued by opioid addiction and high rates of drug-overdose deaths, with homeless encampments becoming increasingly visible in populated areas in recent years. Governor Lujan Grisham, a Democrat, underscored the severity of the situation in a statement: "The surge in criminal activity has contributed to increased homelessness, family instability and fatal drug overdoses, placing extraordinary strain on local governments and police departments that have requested immediate state assistance". This latest declaration follows similar actions taken by Governor Lujan Grisham in New Mexico 's largest city, Albuquerque. In April, she declared a state of emergency there due to a significant rise in crime, prompting the deployment of the New Mexico National Guard. Earlier in 2023, she suspended the right to carry guns in public parks and playgrounds in Albuquerque, a move made in response to a series of shootings across the state that resulted in child fatalities. Earlier, in 2023, she suspended the right to carry guns at public parks and playgrounds in Albuquerque in response to a series of shootings around the state that left children dead. There were no immediate calls for troop deployments in Rio Arriba County, though the new emergency declaration allows for authorities to call up the National Guard. Emergency funds will help local law enforcement agencies spend on overtime, equipment and coordinated police responses, said Lujan Grisham spokesperson Jodi McGinnis Porter. The tribal governor of Santa Clara Pueblo on the edge of Española urged the state to address a growing public safety crisis stemming from the use and abuse of fentanyl and alcohol in the community at large. 'The pueblo has expended thousands of dollars trying to address this crisis (...) and to protect pueblo children who are directly and negatively affected by a parent's or guardian's addiction,' said Santa Clara Governor James Naranjo in a July letter to Lujan Grisham. 'But we are not an isolated community and the causes and effects of fentanyl/alcohol abuse, increased crime, and increased homelessness extend to the wider community.' Recent deaths in the region linked by medical investigators to fentanyl and alcohol use include Rio Arriba County Sheriff Billy Merrifield. In 2020, President Donald Trump sent federal agents, including Homeland Security officers, to Albuquerque as part of an effort to contain violent crime. Separately on Wednesday, the Albuquerque Police Department announced murder charges against three teenagers — including two juveniles — in the July 2 shooting death of a homeless man in Albuquerque who was chased from a bus stop in the predawn hours. A 15-year-old boy is accused of being the shooter in the killing of 45-year-old Frank Howard, police department spokesperson Gilbert Gallegos said.
The Independent
39 minutes ago
- The Independent
Melania Trump threatens Hunter Biden with $1bn lawsuit over Epstein claim
Melania Trump has demanded Hunter Biden retract comments linking her to convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, threatening legal action for 'over $1bn' if he does not. he first lady objects to two statements Mr Biden, son of President Joe Biden, made in a recent interview with British journalist Andrew Callaghan. He alleged that Epstein introduced the first lady to now-President Donald Trump. The statements are false, defamatory and "extremely salacious," Melania Trump's lawyer, Alejandro Brito, wrote in a letter to Biden. Biden's remarks were widely disseminated on social media and reported by media outlets around the world, causing the first lady "to suffer overwhelming financial and reputational harm," he wrote. A letter from the first lady's lawyers demanded he retract the claim and apologise, or face legal action for "over $1bn in damages". It also accuses Biden of having a "vast history of trading on the names of others", and repeating the claim "to draw attention to yourself". Biden made the Epstein comments during a sprawling interview in which he lashed out at "elites" and others in the Democratic Party he says undermined his father before he dropped out of last year's presidential campaign. "Epstein introduced Melania to Trump. The connections are, like, so wide and deep," Biden said in one of the comments Trump disputes. Biden attributed the claim to author Michael Wolff, whom Trump disparaged in June as a "Third Rate Reporter." He has accused Wolff of making up stories to sell books. The first lady's threats echo a favored strategy of her husband, who has aggressively used litigation to go after critics. Public figures like the Trumps face a high bar to succeed in a defamation lawsuit. The president and first lady have long said they were introduced by Paolo Zampolli, a modeling agent, at a New York Fashion Week party in 1998. The letter is dated Aug. 6 and was first reported Wednesday by Fox News Digital. Abbe Lowell, a lawyer who has represented Biden in his criminal cases and to whom Brito's letter is addressed, did not immediately respond to a request for comment late Wednesday.
