Distressing police body camera footage has captured the moment sheriff’s deputies rescued a grandmother who was trapped inside a hot Tesla for more than an hour.
The close call took place a little after 5.15pm in Washington State‘s Kitsap County, which is just west of Seattle.
Bystanders called 911 after seeing an elderly woman trapped inside the electric vehicle because she seemed to be in distress. Deputies with the Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office arrived and attempted to open the doors, but they were locked.
It was later determined that the Tesla had been operating in ‘pet safe mode,’ a feature meant to keep the air conditioning on while the doors are locked from the inside to prevent pets from escaping. The air conditioning had not been functioning, however.
When the deputies arrived, they attempted to communicate with the woman inside the vehicle, but she only spoke Spanish. At one point in the bodycam video, she can be seen waving her hand in front of her face, seemingly to show that she was hot.
The video also shows a deputy asking, ‘Are you okay?’ before the grandmother gestured in a way that showed she did not understand. He then asked her if she had a phone while pointing to his device, and she waved her finger no.
The deputy used an online translation tool to communicate with the woman, typing phrases and then placing his phone against the window so she could read them.
The officers soon determined that the woman had been in the car for at least an hour while her granddaughter had gone into a building nearby to conduct business.
A grandmother in Washington State was rescued from a hot Tesla after she was trapped inside for more than an hour. She is pictured waving her hand in front of her face to show she was hot
The elderly woman only spoke Spanish, so a responding deputy used an online translation tool to communicate with her
The deputy is pictured placing his translated phrase against the window so the woman could read it
A deputy is pictured trying to open the locked Tesla’s doors. The vehicle was in ‘pet safe mode,’ which is meant to keep the air conditioning on while the doors are locked from inside
‘One hour,’ one of the deputies said in the video after he could be seen leaning towards the window communicating with the elderly woman. ‘That’s a long-a** time – one hour,’ he then said while turning back to look at the other deputy.
The granddaughter appears to have left the car in ‘pet safe mode’ so her grandma would be comfortable, but the feature appeared to have malfunctioned, turning the vehicle into a rapidly heating prison.
The deputies searched nearby businesses to find the woman’s granddaughter and located her about 15 minutes after arriving at the scene, according to the timestamp on the body camera footage.
‘Do you have a white Tesla?’ a deputy can be heard asking a woman who was sitting on a bench inside a courtyard of one of the buildings.
‘Yes? Is it parked right over here?’ the deputy continued. ‘Okay, is that your grandmother in there? I need you to come with me right now.’
The deputy escorted the granddaughter to the Tesla, and she was able to unlock its doors. The elderly woman was then finally able to climb out and cool off.
The responding officers estimated that the temperature inside the vehicle was about 100F by the time the grandmother was able to exit.
Temperatures in the area reached a high of 86F on Tuesday, according to the Weather Channel.
The deputies soon located the elderly woman’s granddaughter, who had left her in the car to conduct business in a nearby building
A deputy escorted the granddaughter to the Tesla, and she was able to unlock it, allowing the grandmother to climb out and cool off
According to the National Weather Service, ‘The temperature inside a vehicle can rise 20 degrees in as little as 10 minutes, and 50 degrees in an hour- even when outside air temperatures are in the 70s.’
The Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office deputies documented the worrying incident and forwarded the information to Adult Protective Services for review.
Daily Mail approached Tesla for comment.
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