The fast actions of a pedestrian are being credited with helping to keep a Jefferson City child from overheating inside a parked vehicle.
Capitol Police Chief Todd Hurt said around 10:25 a.m., a woman walking on North Capitol Drive called their office to report she had found a child, unattended, inside a vehicle.
The door to the vehicle was unlocked and the woman got the child, a three-year old girl, out of it.
She stayed with the child until police arrived.
"The child was hot to the touch and crying, so we called paramedics, who took the child to a local hospital to be checked out," Hurt said.
Hurt said the child was with a group of about 20 children from Fountain of Life preschool in Jefferson City.
"We did get in contact with the leader of the group who was very cooperative and apologetic, felt terrible," he said. "The child was treated and released and fortunately everything turned out OK."
Hurt said these type of incidents should remind residents to be vigilant during hot weather, to make sure children are not left unattended.
"We were lucky for two reasons in this case," he said. "One, this happened in the morning and two, the child was found by a pedestrian who quickly contacted law enforcement. All those things added up to everything being OK."
Hurt added: "Nobody feels good about these kind of situations.
"I think a lot of times we take for granted that things will be OK, but we need to take precautions to make sure children are kept safe in these type of situations."