Police Man From Naperville Rescues Toddler As He Runs Across A Busy Highway

Jan 04, 2020 by apost team

A Naperville police officer recently experienced a scary situation involving a toddler running aimlessly through traffic, which required quick thinking and action for his part. During a routine work day patrolling in the Chicago suburb of Naperville, Sgt. Anthony Mannino saw something he isn't used to dealing with everyday.

On a busy highway, a 1-year-old toddler ran out onto the street and straight into traffic, before aimlessly wandering in the slow lane. Sgt. Mannino immediately called in to report what he was witnessing, and then used his patrol car to block the far right lane before running out into the traffic to grab the young boy.

The patrol car's dash cam was recording for the duration of the incident, so you can clearly see that the toddler was scared and not paying attention to his surroundings.

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In the video, posted on the Naperville Police Department's Facebook account, the officer is seen running in front of his patrol car as a truck races by. He then runs out onto the street, gets the attention of the child, and lifts the 1-year-old up and onto the sidewalk to safety.

Somehow this 1-year-old child managed to get away from his mother without her noticing and then wandered onto the busy highway.

No word yet on how the child managed to do so, or what distracted the mother long enough to make this possible. Everyone is just thankful that the toddler is safe and that Sgt. Mannino was there at the right moment to prevent anything more serious from happening to the toddler.

Sgt. Mannino was recognized for his action and received an award from his department in a small ceremony, reports KTVU. The Life Saving Award was given to him in June for the action he took that day and the situation was shared on the department's social media account, as well as a commendation to Mannino for his part in the situation.

You never know what you would do if you find yourself in that situation until it happens, and fortunately this time everything ended with everyone walking away safely from the incident. Would you jump out into traffic to save the life of a small child?