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Baby 'rescued' from van a real doll
By BRADY DENNIS
© St. Petersburg Times, ZEPHYRHILLS -- The Zephyrhills Police Department will pick up the $243 tab after two officers broke the window of a locked van Sunday trying to save what they thought was a baby. It turned out to be a doll. Capt. Richard Scudder said the officers did the right thing, and that $243 was a small price for preventing what could have been a tragedy. "We would do it again," Scudder said of the incident at Wal-Mart on 7425 Gall Blvd. "It's worth smashing 1,000 windows if you save one child's life." Patrolman David Feger went to the store just after 5 p.m., when someone called to report a child in an unattended white Dodge Caravan. When Feger arrived, he saw what looked like a baby strapped in a car seat and covered to its neck in a light-colored blanket. It had a pacifier in its mouth and was wearing a cotton hat. Feger tried without success to find the van's owner. He then tried to pry open the locked door of the vehicle, but that didn't work. He called Sgt. David Shears, who arrived minutes later. Shears noticed that the baby wasn't moving and did not appear to be breathing. So he took his metal baton, shattered the window and reached in to grab the baby, cutting his hand on the glass. To his relief, it was a doll. It turns out the doll belonged to the daughter of the van's owner, George Krusey, 31, of Ridge Manor. Police said they were told the doll was part of a school project. But Darlene Krusey said it simply was her daughter's toy, which they had bought long ago at Wal-Mart. When the Kruseys came out of the store, they initially thought their van had been burglarized. But when they saw Shears with blood on his hands, they weren't sure what to think. Feger and Shears were relieved with the outcome, and the Kruseys were able to laugh at the incident. "I understand why they did it, but it was pretty unbelievable," Darlene Krusey said. "I was mad at first. But we laughed it off." Scudder said he was relieved with how the incident turned out. "There might be people who say the police should have realized that was a doll," he said. "That's Monday morning quarterbacking. I would say that if someone's son or daughter was trapped in a car in 150 (degree) temperatures, they wouldn't care how many windows we busted out."
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
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From today's Pasco Times |
