NAPERVILLE, Ill. — A police sergeant was honored for his quick actions in rescuing a young child from a busy roadway in suburban Chicago. The Naperville Police Department posted dashcam video of last month’s rescue by Sgt. Anthony Mannino on its Facebook page Monday.
The department’s post says the child “escaped his mother’s watchful eye” and wandered along Route 59 as traffic whizzed by.
“The kid just got out of the house,” Mannino later told CBS Chicago station WBBM-TV. “Mom was in the house with the kid, and in a fleeting second, child ran out of the house.”
Mannino, who was on patrol, stopped his police car to block a lane of traffic, ran after the child and scooped him up, telling him “you’re OK.”
The child wasn’t injured. Police say he lived nearby and he was quickly reunited with his mother. No charges were sought in the case.
Mannino told WBBM-TV that he at first thought he spotted a stray dog, but then his parental instincts took over.
“I have twin boys, and there’s not a day that goes by where something bad happens, you always think of your own kids,” Mannino said.
The police department says Mannino last week received its lifesaving award for his efforts.
“I did what any of my peers would have done,” Mannino said, “position that car, get out and quickly corral that kid before something bad would have happened.”
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