SAN ANTONIO – A woman involved in the rescue of three children who San Antonio police say were left alone in a hot car has no regrets about what she did.
She spoke to KSAT 12 News Monday but asked that her identity be withheld.
The woman says she had just parked her own car in a shopping center near Highway 281 and Thousand Oaks Friday afternoon when she glanced over at the car next to her and got an eyeful.
She says she saw a young boy crying in the front seat, with no adults around.
“I kind of did like a double take, and I said, ‘No, I’m going to listen to my instincts, and I’m going to see what’s going on,’” she said. “So I looked (into the car) further, and that’s when I saw the other little girl.”There actually were three children, one-month, two- and four-years-old.
The unidentified woman said after realizing they were alone, she immediately called 911.
With the help of others in the area, she said she was able to get the children out of the car through an unlocked door. The engine was turned off at the time, so the car had no air conditioning.
The high-temperature Friday afternoon was in the triple digits. Police say it appears the children were left in the hot car for about 50 minutes.
“(The boy) was sweating profusely. The little girl, to me, she looked like she was in shock,” the woman said.
After calling for help, the woman said she took out her phone and began to record the scene.
The video, which she briefly posted to social media, was shared by others millions of times.
She says going viral with her video, though, was not her intention.
“I wanted to raise awareness that we do need to be on the lookout, especially on these hot summer days,” the woman said.
Police arrested the 33-year-old mother of the children, Angela Garza-Amador, when she walked up in the middle of the scene. She is facing three charges of endangering a child.
The good Samaritan believes what happened may have been a big mistake on the mother’s part and that Garza-Amador did not intend to put her children at risk.
“Now she’s going to have to face the consequences of that,” she said. “I’m just glad that I was there at the right time. I just feel like it was God-sent.”
According to a spokeswoman with the Department of Family and Protective Services, the children have been placed with other relatives as a result of what happened.
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