Emergency responders broke a window on a car that crashed into a Golden Valley creek and rescued a toddler strapped in his car seat inside the burning vehicle, authorities said Wednesday.
The crash with the boy's father behind the wheel occurred about 8:30 p.m. Tuesday along the 3800 block of Golden Valley Road, where the car veered down an embankment into Bassett Creek, landed on one side and caught fire, police said.
Police officers approached the car and "could hear a child crying from the vehicle," a police statement read.
The flames "were contained enough" for rescue personnel to break the rear window, pull the 23-month-old boy from his car seat and bring him to safety with "no visible injuries," the statement continued.
The father was near the vehicle on the ground as the five-minute rescue took place, police said.
Police suspect that the 22-year-old driver was under the influence of alcohol at the time of the crash. An empty bottle of liquor was found in the vehicle. He was taken to North Memorial Medical Center with serious injuries.
Citing an active criminal investigation, police were withholding the identities of the driver and the boy.
