When Lacey Guyton was leaving her grandparent’s Michigan home after a visit, she put her two-month-old daughter, Raina, in her car seat, put her diaper bag in the car and closed the door. As she was walking around to the driver’s seat, she heard the doors “randomly lock” and realized her keys were in her diaper bag … inside the car.
Lacey had her grandmother call 911 while she tried to break the passenger window. The 911 dispatcher told them that the service doesn’t send police to unlock car doors and suggested they call a tow company instead. By this time the baby girl was screaming in the car and her mama was getting more panicked.
So Lacey called 911 a second time to ask for help, but instead of them sending assistance immediately, which is what 911 is for, she was told they don’t come out to unlock vehicles. The thing is, this wasn’t a keys locked in the car situation, this was a screaming infant in a hot car emergency and the 911 operator should have known the difference.
After calling a tow company, the desperate mom took matters into her own hands, smashing her back windshield. She crawled inside, got her baby out and cooled down, and the tow truck arrived 12 minutes later. Lacey says it was the worst day of her life and she was shocked that 911 wouldn’t send emergency help.
Waterford Police Chief Scott Underwood says the dispatcher involved should have known better and will be disciplined and trained how to handle calls like this in the future. Let’s hope he’s right so this doesn’t happen to another mom in the future.