Shocking Video Shows 3-Year-Old Climb Out On AC Unit On 13th Floor Of Bronx Building
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- The NYPD is investigating a video that shows a child outside a window of a high-rise building in the Bronx.
It happened around 7 p.m. Saturday at the Butler Houses on Webster Avenue.
Video shot by Jennifer Mares shows the heart-stopping moments a 3-year-old boy climbed out a 13th-floor window and right on top of an air-conditioning unit, dangerously dangling over the edge.
"I looked up and I seen a baby hanging out the window, and it was just unbelievable," she told CBS2's Reena Roy. "My heart was in panic. I didn't know what to think anymore."
Mares sprang into action, running upstairs.
"I was banging on the door … We just rushed inside because they had no idea that the baby was outside," she said.
Inside, they found the child's shocked mother, who does not want to be identified.
"They were like, your son is out the window. I didn't believe them," she said.
She says her toddler has autism and was watching TV in the living room with his younger brother while she cooked dinner.
She says the young boy somehow opened a plastic part of the air-conditioning unit and crawled out.
"See, he ripped that side and stick his head and whole body outside," she said.
MORE: Report: Gaps Around Air Conditioners In NYC Buildings Are Costly
Her teenage daughter pulled him to safety.
"I thank her. She's everything to me. She helped me with the boy … It's a miracle from god," the mother said. "I want people to know I'm a good mother. I'm not a monster."
The NYPD and Administration for Children's Services are both investigating this.
In the meantime, the boy's mother tells CBS2 there were window guards in place, but she took them out a few months ago to put in the air-conditioning unit. The mother says after this incident, NYCHA has reinstalled those guards.