Cop Breaks Window to Save Baby Left in Hot Car—Then Realizes It Was All a Mistake
We’ve covered similar incidents before—parents heading into stores and leaving their babies behind in sweltering cars. It’s not just careless; it’s potentially deadly. Even a short time in extreme heat can lead to heatstroke, unconsciousness, or worse.
Because of how often this happens, police are constantly on alert during heatwaves, scanning parking lots for any signs of children left behind.
Officer Jason Short from Keene, New Hampshire, was doing just that when a call came in about an unattended infant inside a car in a Walmart lot on a scorching afternoon.
But what happened next was something he never could’ve anticipated.
As soon as the alert came in, Jason sprang into action.
“I got there as fast as I could,” he told WMUR in an interview. “I’m not sure how fast I was driving—but it was fast.”
When he arrived, he spotted what looked like a baby wrapped in a blanket, small feet visible through the car window.
The heat was intense, and there was no telling how long the child had been inside. Jason didn’t hesitate—he smashed the window with his baton and reached inside.
He carefully lifted the limp body from the car. The “baby” was pale, its skin tone unusual, and it appeared lifeless.
A crowd began forming around him as he urgently began CPR and called for paramedics.
But then, something felt…off.
Jason paused. The texture, the weight, the feel—something wasn’t right.
Then it hit him: it wasn’t a real baby at all. It was a hyper-realistic doll.
Moments later, the owner returned. Carolynne Seiffer had just finished her shopping and came back to a broken window and a circle of people surrounding her $2,000 doll, which she’d named Ainsley.
“I’ve been laughed at and felt humiliated by all the attention,” she told WMUR.
According to The Washington Post, Carolynne owns around 40 of these incredibly lifelike dolls. After losing her own child, she began collecting them as a form of emotional healing—a way to cope with her grief.
“People deal with loss in their own way,” she explained.
Though Jason admitted he was slightly embarrassed by the situation, he stood by his actions.
“I’d never assume it’s a doll,” he said. “You have to treat it like it’s a real child. I wouldn’t change a thing.”
The Keene Police Department covered the $300 cost to repair Carolynne’s broken window.
While the story is certainly out of the ordinary, the important takeaway is that no one was hurt. And if you do happen to carry one of these dolls, law enforcement advises not to leave them visible in your car—just in case.