Deputy rescues 2-week-old baby from cold car after mother found passed out in driver’s seat

POLKTON, N.C. — It started as a welfare check on a driver and ended up with an Anson County deputy saving the life of a two-week-old baby.

Deputy Carmen Jenkins responded to Whit’s in Polkton for a driver who was passed out. The windows were down and it was cold outside.

That’s when Jenkins found the infant with only a onesie -- no socks, no hat and no shoes. At the hospital, doctors said if she had stayed out there even 30 more minutes, the baby most likely would have died.

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Jenkins said her mom instincts kicked in.

“I have to save this child, I have to get her to a warm safe place,” Jenkins said.

A clerk at Whit’s, who did not want to be identified, said she gave the infant’s mother food the day before. She said the mom was staying in her car and when the clerk offered to let the woman keep the baby in the store, she declined.

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The next day, the clerk said the car was still there and all the windows were frozen over so she called for help.

Jenkins said the mother was passed out so she took the baby to the hospital. The doctors said the baby would not have survived another 30 minutes in the cold and was also suffering from malnutrition.

DSS took custody of the infant, which the clerk said was hard for her.

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“I busted into tears because I knew I did something good, but I still felt so bad,” the clerk said. “If the baby has a second chance, then I’m happy.”

Police assured her if it wasn’t for her or Jenkins’ quick thinking, the baby would not be alive.

The mother, Samantha Crum, has been charged with felony child abuse causing serious physical injury.