NEW PORT RICHEY, Fla. — A Florida jail inmate helped save an infant Thursday who was accidentally locked in an SUV.
Pasco Sheriff's Office deputies were told the baby was in the locked vehicle in the parking lot of the courthouse, WFLA reported.
Parents tried for several minutes to open the locked SUV and told responding deputies they could not afford a locksmith, WFLA reported.
The father told deputies he would break the front window, WFLA reported. However, an inmate crew from the jail was working nearby and offered to help.
"There's only a very small percentage of those criminals out there that want to fight us and want to attack us, but a lot of them, like these individuals, they know they made bad mistakes, bad choices but they want to do the right thing in life," Pasco County Sheriff Chris Nocco told WFTS.
The father pulled on the door while an inmate used a coat hanger to push the button for the electric door lock.
The child, Dallas, was fine and her parents were grateful for the help, WFTS reported.
The mother, identified as Shadow Lantry, said her child was locked in the SUV for about five minutes.
"Thank God for the criminals in the world. I respect all of y'all," Lantry said in a video.
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