ONTARIO, Calif. — A 20-month-old baby who was placed in a front loader at a Laundromat was rescued after becoming trapped when a family member closed the door and the machine turned on, according to the San Jose Mercury News.
Police credit “good Samaritans” with saving the child.
According to witnesses, the child’s aunt had placed the child in the machine and was playing with him while his mother and grandmother were doing laundry nearby. A family member closed the door, not realizing the washer would turn on, police say. Relatives were unable to open the door, and the child was spinning for several minutes, witnesses say.
Two men working a traffic signal outside heard the commotion and ran inside the store. A baseball bat was used to shatter the glass, but the child was still stuck in the washer. One of the workers went back outside, grabbed a digging bar, pounded on the washer and pried the door open, according to KABC Eyewitness News.
The child was bloody and bruised, but soon began to cry. Firefighters took the baby to Loma Linda University Medical Center, where the child was listed in stable condition.
Police plan to submit a case to the San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office to determine if criminal charges will be filed. No one was arrested at the scene.
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