Autistic 3-year-old boy filmed dangling from air conditioner on 13th floor of New York building, mother slammed
A New York City mother is in hot water after her three-year-old son was caught on camera hanging outside a window of their 13th-floor apartment on Saturday.
The incident at Butler Houses in the Bronx was captured by Jennifer Mares (video below) who saw the child wearing a diaper as he squeezed outside the window and climbed atop the air conditioner, WABC reported. “Go inside! Oh, my God!” witnesses down on the road can be heard yelling in the video.
“I was losing my mind," Mares told the outlet. "All I was thinking was about this baby falling and not making it.”
The child's mother, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said her son is autistic and also suffers from visual impairment. She told WABC her son probably pushed in the side panels of the air conditioner and crawled through the opening to reach the outside of the window. The tot was subsequently rushed to a local hospital to check if he was okay.
Speaking to ABC News, witness Mares said she was at a nearby park with her son when someone yelled about a baby outside a window. She immediately dialed 911 before running to the scene, where she saw the boy's 14-year-old sister grab him and pull him to safety.
“Our top priority is protecting the safety and wellbeing of all children in New York City,” a spokesperson for the New York City Administration for Children’s Services told People. “As soon as this family came to our attention, we launched an immediate investigation.”
Speaking to WABC, the embattled mother said bars were installed on the window the following day so that the boy wouldn't climb out again. While she is grateful that her child is safe, she complained that a number of local residents criticized her after the mishap. “They were calling me names,” she said. "'You stupid, dumb, African lady. You don’t know nothing. You think this is Africa? This is not Africa. This is America. You will go to jail.'"
“God saved my boy and he will save me from these people," she added.