Talk about being in the right place at the right time: A driver who thought he saw a bag in the road in Stafford County, Virginia, quickly discovered it really was a child who had fallen out of her mother鈥檚 vehicle.
It happened Saturday about 8:30 p.m. on Plantation Drive, near U.S. Route 17.
Mark and Tawana Brown, of Stafford, were driving home from a barbecue when they noticed something in the road.
鈥淎ll of a sudden a kid stepped out of the bag. But, it was a car seat. It was a car seat and the kid got up out of the car seat,鈥� Mark Brown said. 鈥淚t looked like she was puzzled. So, she was just looking around everywhere. We slammed on the brakes and stopped.鈥�
Tawana Brown scooped up the 4-year-old and took her to safety. In the fading daylight they could see the mom鈥檚 car returning from about 15 or 20 yards away.
鈥淎nd there were two infants in the car. None of them were secure,鈥� Brown recalled. The car seats weren鈥檛 locked into the vehicle. The seats had no harnesses to strap in the children.
Brown is an 18-year veteran officer for U.S. Capitol Police. He said the woman attempted to grab her child and the car seat and leave, but he made her wait for sheriff鈥檚 deputies to arrive.
Meantime, he rushed home to retrieve two car seats and a toddler-sized booster seat once used by his grandchildren. He installed them, showed the mom how to install them and showed her how to activate her vehicle鈥檚 child safety locks.
Brown said he believes everything happens for a reason.
鈥淲e must have been in the right place at the right time,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd, just luckily, thank God just luckily, there were no cars behind her, close enough behind her where the child [could have gotten] hit or anything. Thank God on that.鈥�
The Stafford County Sheriff鈥檚 Office gave the woman a summons for child abuse. The Browns have been presented with Sheriff鈥檚 Recognition Coins for their 鈥渃ompassionate actions,鈥� but Mark Brown said he couldn鈥檛 imagine the situation unfolding any other way.
鈥淎t the time, when we realized it was a kid, it was pretty much jump into action. You got to do something. And that’s pretty much what we did,鈥� Brown said.
If there鈥檚 a lesson to be learned from the experience, it鈥檚 that there鈥檚 help for people who need it.
鈥淢y message is 鈥� check with your local sheriff’s department or fire department,鈥� he said. 鈥淎ny public law enforcement has someone to show you how to properly install car seats.鈥�
