Exclusive: Officer describes saving boy from hot car in Cobb County

COBB COUNTY, Ga. - A 4-year-old boy is recovering after a quick-thinking police officers rescues him from a hot SUV. It happened on Perch Drive in Marietta. The officer had to break a window to get the little boy to safety.

Cobb County Police went to a home to check out a call of unattended children running around the neighborhood, chasing dogs. The officers had no idea of what and who they were about to find.

"We’re at the residence and there’s a child alone in a vehicle, with the windows up," officers said on body cam video.

The little boy is stuck inside with the doors locked. All this happening last Wednesday afternoon. "It was approximately 83 degrees outside," said Officer Ryan Eustace.

The officer tells his trainee, Officer Rama, to knock on the door of the house, hoping to find the boy’s parents. "As soon as we saw the child, we knew that we had to try to get that kid out," the officer said.

No adult answered the door immediately. "That’s when we decided we had to take action to get the child out," Officer Eustace said.

It isn’t clear if the boy inadvertently locked the doors, or if the door had locked on their own. The officers instruct the boy to move out of harm’s way. Officer Eustace breaks the window. The frantic boy cries. The officers open the door and take him to safety.

"He was visibly shaken. He was crying and screaming. His cheeks were red. Had sweat on him," Officer Eustace said. "It probably would’ve been a worst-case scenario."

Officer Eustace says seeing a child suffer hits home. "They’re the most innocent people we have. When you see a child in distress. It hits you differently," he said.

The little boy is okay.

Police arrested Charles Cook, the boyfriend of the child’s mother, and was charged with two counts of child cruelty.