Duncanville, TX – (PRESS RELEASE DPD) — Just after 5:00 PM on August 17, 2020, Duncanville Police Officers responded to a citizen call of a child left alone and appearing to be asleep in a vehicle on the 900 Block of Gemini Avenue in Duncanville. Upon arrival, Officer Pinilla confirmed an infant was locked in a vehicle alone, in a car seat, and appeared to be crying, sweating, and was covered in vomit. Officer Pinilla, after requesting paramedics over his portable police radio, quickly shattered the vehicle window away from where the infant was seated and secured the nearly one-year-old in his air-conditioned patrol vehicle until paramedics arrived.
Duncanville, Texas cop saves infant locked in hot car.
Police said the case seems to point to “being a mistake caused by false assumptions and faulty communication about the infant’s well-being.” However, the case was referred to Child Protective Services. pic.twitter.com/i2G3FAOCMt
— GrantB911 (@GrantB911) August 23, 2020
The mother of the infant was identified and had arrived in the same vehicle from which the infant was saved, along with the infant’s grandmother and two of the infant’s older siblings. All indications seem to point to this being a mistake caused by false assumptions and faulty communication about the infant’s well-being.
However, a referral was made regarding the incident to Child Protective Services (CPS) as well as to a Dallas County Grand Jury to determine if civil or criminal accountability stemming from this incident is appropriate.