Traffic Stop Turns Into Life-Saving Race to Hospital for Baby in Deputies’ Patrol Car

What to Know

A woman stopped by deputies for erratic driving in Lakewood ran from the car holding a baby who wasn't breathing
Deputies performed CPR in a patrol car as they rushed the boy to a hospital
Video shows a deputy cradling the baby in his arms as he runs to the hospital entrance

A traffic stop in Lakewood turned into a well-coordinated race to the hospital late Monday to rescue a 9-month-old baby boy.

After deputies pulled over a woman for driving erratically on Lakewood Boulevard, the driver got out of the car holding her baby. Deputies determined the child wasn't breathing and rushed him and his mother in a patrol car to the Long Beach Memorial Hospital, performing CPR along the eight-mile route.

Other deputies and law enforcement agencies provided an escort after receiving radio calls for assistance, making sure streets to the hospital were clear. After the rolling convoy of police and sheriff's department vehicles arrived at the hospital, a deputy sprinted from the patrol car to the entrance with the child cradled securely in his arms.

"When you have a 9-month-old that's not breathing, everybody jumps into action and does everything they can," said Capt. Richard J. Harpham of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. "I couldn't be any more proud."

The baby was resuscitated before arriving at the hospital. Details about his condition were not immediately available, but he is expected to survive.

The mother couldn’t explain what happened because there was a language barrier, but deputies and Long Beach Police Department were able to coordinate via police radio that on-ramps were block to allow the patrol car en route to get to the hospital as fast as possible. There was no evidence of foul play, according to a sheriff's department statement.