Just one day after media reported that a Phoenix-area woman was trapped in her Tesla when the car's battery died, a follow-up story reveals a similar incident with a toddler in the disabled vehicle: the 20-month-old granddaughter of Renee Sanchez.
Sanchez had strapped her granddaughter into her car seat to take her on a trip to the Phoenix Zoo, and before Sanchez could get into the car herself, the car's battery died and all of the doors locked. Sanchez couldn't open the door, no matter what she tried. And of course, her 20-month-old granddaughter couldn't just pull the latch on the armrest to manually unlock the door.
Keep in mind that there is currently an excessive heat warning in effect for Phoenix, and today's temperature will reach a high of 112 degrees Fahrenheit. Obviously, absolutely nobody should be trapped in a car, ever, but especially not in this heat!
AZ Family provides details of the frightening experience:
Sanchez tells On Your Side she had no option but to call 911, which immediately sent out Scottsdale firefighters.
"And when they got here, the first thing they said was, 'Uggh, it's a Tesla. We can't get in these cars,'" she said. "And I said, 'I don't care if you have to cut my car in half. Just get her out.'"
Firefighters were forced to break a window with an axe, but they first covered the window with tape to keep the glass from flying.
Meanwhile, Sanchez's granddaughter sat alone inside the Tesla, which was getting hotter and hotter.
"She was OK for the first few minutes," Sanchez said. "But as soon as the firemen came and all the commotion started and the windows getting broken into, she started crying because she was scared."
A firefighter climbed through the window and pulled the little girl free. They even gave her a little fire hat to calm her down.
Sanchez reports that the car's battery died without warning. AZ Family explains that "there is a way for drivers to unlock their cars when they're stuck outside, but it's a complicated series of time-consuming steps involving wires and battery chargers." They also provide a link to the Tesla's manual for information on how to open the doors without power.
