A group of inmates in Florida sprang to action when they realized a couple mistakenly locked their baby inside their SUV.
The low-level offenders were working to repair medians in Pasco County, just outside of Tampa, when they spotted a couple struggling with their vehicle nearby, KABC-TV reported.
Shadow Lantry explained how her husband strapped her 1-year-old daughter, Dallas, into her car seat and then tossed his keys in the front seat. When he shut the back door on his Chevy Tahoe though, he realized the vehicle was locked.
Unable to afford locksmith, the parents planned to break a window but were instead helped by the unlikely group.
Deputies approached the couple with the inmates, all of them sporting black and white stripes, and provided them some assistance. They were able to pry the front door open just enough for one inmate to maneuver a coat hanger inside the vehicle and pop the door open.
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Dallas, who watched contently from inside her parents’ car, was not hurt during the ordeal. The temperature was mild that day, a cool 56 degrees, so there was no risk of overheating.
Lantry in video of the rescue efforts can be heard expressing her gratitude for the men who came to their rescue.
“Thank god for criminals in the world,” she says. “I respect y’all.”
Sheriff Chris Nocco of the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office acknowledged in the irony in allowing the inmate to use his set of skill to break into a car for the rescue operation, but also praised him for his willingness to help.
“There’s a very small percentage of those criminals out there that want to fight us and want to attack us,” Nocco told WFTS. “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.”
