WATERFORD, Mich. (WSVN) — A mother frantically rushed to save her daughter after she accidentally locked the baby in the car, only for the 911 dispatcher to refuse to send help.
Lacey Guyton told Fox 2 she was visiting her grandparents in Waterford, Michigan, on Saturday when her car doors suddenly locked after she put her 2-month-old daughter Raina in her car seat. The keys were inside the vehicle at the time.
Guyton said she instantly jumped into action and tried to break the car window with a piece of asphalt while her grandmother called 911.
However, the dispatcher told Guyton’s grandmother Mary Riley that there was nothing the could do and they would have to call a towing service.
She says, ‘Ma’am we can’t unlock cars or break windows,'” Riley recalled. “And then you feel so helpless. All the help we think we were going to get – the only help we were going to get – we don’t have it.”
“It was terrifying. It was like the worst day of my life,” said Guyton. “I was so, like, shocked, [thinking] they aren’t coming; I have to get her out of here. Nobody’s coming to help me.”
Guyton tried calling 911 again, but was connected to the same dispatcher. Guyton asked the dispatcher to send fire rescue, but again she declined.
“I could send a wrecker service, they will charge you, but the fire department doesn’t come out for that,” the dispatcher said.
Ultimately, Guyton was able to rescue her daughter after she was finally able to break her back window.
“She was really sweaty, screaming, and just drenched in sweat,” Guyton told Fox 2. “She was probably in there like 10 minutes, so we immediately got her out, got her inside, cooled her down.”
Waterford police Chief Scott Underwood later apologized to the family, saying the dispatcher was mistaken.
“It’s a common sense issue,” Chief Scott Underwood said. “You call 911, you expect for somebody to come and give you some help, and we certainly should have gone and done that. We made a mistake and we need to fix that.”
Waterford said the employee, who is a veteran dispatcher, will face disciplinary action and everyone will have more training to prevent similar situations.
[protected-iframe id=”fbf82ffe7f99e8cc1f9654d931f93744-110336915-112670968″ info=”https://w3.cdn.anvato.net/player/prod/v3/anvload.html?key=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″ width=”640″ height=”360″ frameborder=”0″ scrolling=”no” webkitallowfullscreen=”” mozallowfullscreen=”” allowfullscreen=””]
Copyright 2026 Sunbeam Television Corp. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.