The Scotland County Sheriff’s Office shared a photo on Monday of sheriff’s Sgt. Mike Woods holding a 3-month-old child who had just been rescued from a locked car. Woods met Laurinburg police Officer Caleb Locklear on the scene, and used Locklear’s unlocking device to open the car door. The child’s grandmother, who had laid her keys beside his car seat while waiting for another grandchild to walk from the house to the car, had accidentally shut the door, locking the child and keys inside with her cell phone. A call to 911 was made from the home. Woods said he is ‘not an expert in using the unlock devices and the good Lord was on his side.’ The father of three said he knew time was especially critical because of how quickly the inside of a car can become dangerously hot.

Scotland County Sheriff’s Office, Sgt Mike Woods received a call from the Emergency Operations Center regarding,” child locked inside a vehicle”. While in route to the call, Sgt Woods met with Laurinburg Police Officer Caleb Locklear to use his unlocking device. Once on the scene, Sgt Woods was advised by the Grandparents the child had been locked in the car by accident. At that time it had been approximately 10-15 minutes.

The grandmother put the 3 month old in his car seat with keys in hand. While properly seat belting the baby in his seat she laid the keys beside his seat and waiting for another grandchild to come from the home she closed the car door only realize she lock the keys inside with her cell phone. She quickly went into the home to advise someone to call 911.

After the baby was removed from the car,Sgt Woods stated that, “he is not an expert in using the unlock devices and the good Lord was on his side.” “ The very first try the door unlocked,” said,Sgt. Woods .

The grandparents were very grateful for Woods’s quick response time. The Grandmother taking the photo of Sgt Woods holding their grandchild, advised she wanted Sheriff Kersey to know right away. Sgt Woods, father of three, stated he knew time was critical and everyone was thankful this was a positive learning experience.

Experts say about 30 children die each year from being left in a hot car. There are tests that show for instance on a 70 degree day and inside a car temps can rise to 117 degrees and cracking the windows could make things worse.

There’s actually a misconception that cracking the windows to allow air in helps, but it acts as a compressor, and can raise the temps about 15 percent.

While this was a happy outcome please remember never leave children or pets in your vehicle at anytime of the year.