Bodycam footage shows Glendale officers entering a smoke-filled home on Aug. 1 and finding a 2-year-old strapped in a car seat while the guardian lay unconscious. Officers carried the barely conscious toddler outside and then located 26-year-old Kallien Heathman, who later resisted as they moved her to safety. The fire reportedly started from a pizza left in a microwave; a 7-year-old called his father, who dialed 911. Heathman was arrested with a blood-alcohol level about five times the legal limit and charged with felony child abuse.
Toddler Rescued From Smoke-Filled Glendale Home While Allegedly Intoxicated Mother Sleeps Through Fire
A frightening scene unfolded in Glendale, Arizona, on Aug. 1 when officers responding to reports of a house fire discovered a 2-year-old still strapped into a car seat inside a smoke-filled home while the child’s guardian lay unconscious nearby.
A woman was arrested in Glendale, Ariz. for allegedly leaving a child strapped in a car seat during a house fire, records show. 12News
Bodycam footage released by the Glendale Police Department shows officers rushing into the residence near 67th Avenue and Cactus Road after callers reported smoke. The video captures the moment officers find a 2-year-old trapped in a car seat and unable to escape amid heavy smoke.
The video shows the cops inside and immediately encounter a 2-year-old child trapped in a car seat unable to get out. 12News
Responding officers quickly removed the barely conscious toddler from the car seat, carried the child outside for fresh air, and began providing immediate care. Police then re-entered the home and located a 26-year-old woman, later identified as Kallien Heathman, unconscious on the floor near a couch.
Bodycam footage shows 26-year-old Kallien Heathman screaming and fighting with officers amid their attempts to get her safely outside. Glendale PD AZ
Bodycam audio and video show officers repeatedly attempting to rouse Heathman and, when she became responsive, struggling as she screamed and resisted their efforts to remove her from the residence and get her to safety.
Heathman was the guardian at the time for both of the kids and is charged with felony child abuse, per the report. 12News
Investigators determined the fire started when a pizza left in a microwave ignited. Authorities say a 7-year-old child in the home called his father, who then dialed 911. Both children were reportedly under Heathman’s guardianship at the time.
When arrested, law enforcement reported Heathman’s blood-alcohol concentration was about five times the legal driving limit. She has been charged with felony child abuse for allegedly leaving the children unsupervised while severely intoxicated, according to local reports. The department’s bodycam footage of the rescue and arrest has been cited in news coverage.
Officials noted that swift police action removed the children and the incapacitated adult to safety before fire crews completed their response.
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