Newly-released footage shows the moment two Tampa police officers saved a baby from an overheated, stolen car in 2022.
A woman had briefly left her 11-month-old daughter alone in her car outside her apartment complex in August 2022, when someone stole it with the baby inside, KKTV reported. Officers located the car, which was roughly half a mile away, within 30 minutes with the baby still inside.
Law & Crime Shared a compilation of videos from body cam and security footage showing the heroic police officers racing to save the child. The two men run from their squad car and scale what appears to be at least an eight-foot fence to get to the stolen vehicle.
“The baby was motionless, so I thought, lifeless,” officer Steven Zawacki said of the rescue, according to WESH. “I have kids of my own, so I was pretty emotional.” Zawacki and his partner, Landon Harsin, whom you can see hurtle over the fence to save the child, were the first on the scene.
Once the baby was safe, Martin Pollack and Anthony Hardesty showed up on the scene, WESH continued. All four men worked tirelessly to ensure the child was healthy, placing a cool compress on her forehead and drops of water on her mouth.
All four men received the Tampa Police Department’s life-saving award, WESH reported. (RELATED: Pennsylvania Police Chief Killed In Shootout With Suspect)
“We don’t do the job for rewards,” Hardesty said, WESH noted. “We do it because we legitimately care. It’s something that we want to do, it’s something that we love doing and we get a good chance to help people and do things that not many other people get a chance to do.”
Police stated that doctors at the hospital told them that had they not intervened when they did, the child probably would have died.
