A mother trapped on the second floor of a burning apartment complex safely dropped her 2-year-old son from a window into the arms of a waiting Oklahoma City police officer on Thursday.
Takia Harding, 22, said the smoke in her apartment was so thick she had to hang her head out the window to breathe.
Officer Anthony Glover was waiting about 20 feet below, standing on sofa cushions as the boy dropped. He caught Tyree Polite in his outstretched arms.
“It was a relief he caught him,” Harding said. “His arms were open, and he held on tight.”
The Oklahoma City Police Department released the following on their Facebook Page:
“Early this morning, rescue crews were called to a two-alarm apartment fire near N.W. 28th St. and May Ave. Officer Anthony Glover and Sergeant Dave Hollis ran to the back of the complex where they encountered a privacy fence blocking access to the building. Sgt. Hollis breached the fence, literally tearing it open with his hands. Once making it through the fence, the officers located a mother and baby who were trapped on the second floor of the apartment. The mother told officers that she felt it was too perilous to attempt an escape with her baby by using the stairs. In a race against time, the mother made the difficult decision to lean out of the window and drop her baby to the officers below. Officer Glover successfully caught the infant. The mother was later able to escape safely. The rescues of several citizens out of the apartment complex were the combined efforts of several other police officers, police lieutenants, fire personnel, and even members of the media not specifically named in this post. We are thankful, no one was seriously injured in the apartment fire. Many thanks to these two brave and quick-thinking police officers who helped rescue these fire victims.”
