STOCKTON, Calif. — Officer James Smith pulled over two separate drivers for allegedly driving under the influence on Saturday, June 29. In the backseat of both cars, he also found children under the age of 2, unrestrained in their car seats.
Smith, who works for the California Highway Patrol (CHP) in Stockton, is the man you see pictured below carrying one of the children, a 9-month-old baby, into the Stockton office.
"I was just happy to have the child in a building that had air conditioning," he said.
Smith pulled over the first car near Bianchi Road and Pacific Avenue just after 4 p.m. on Saturday after catching a 25-year-old man, apparently under the influence, blow through a stop sign. Smith and his partner found not one, but two unrestrained children in the car.
Then, just a mile away, not even three hours later, a 19-year-old driver, also suspected of being under the influence, was found in a Chevron parking lot near Bianchi Road and West Lane with the 9-month-old baby unrestrained in the car.
"It's disheartening to know that this innocent child, somebody who can't care for themselves, is being put in a situation where they could be seriously hurt and they may not get that future that they deserve," said Smith who's a car seat technician and soon-to-be father of three.
Smith called other sober family members to pick up the children. The first two were picked up by their mother right away, but the 9-month-old was taken back to CHP Stockton to cool off until her parents showed up about three hours later.
"One of the things that we like to do for our dispatchers, who are a huge asset to our department, is to kind of help close the loop for them ... 'you were behind the scenes, but you helped solve this situation,' so I took the baby in to see the dispatchers," he said.
People on social media called Smith a hero, but he said he was just doing his job.
"We were just proud to be the ones that were there in the moment at the right time in the right location to make the difference for them," he said. "We all know what would have happened if we hadn't been there, but we know that at the end of the day, those children got to go home safe and that really feels good."
Both drivers in these unrelated incidents are facing DUI and child endangerment charges.
As we move into the Fourth of July holiday weekend, CHP wants to remind families to drive sober and make sure children are properly restrained in their car seats. And if you have questions on how to install them, set up an appointment at your local CHP office free of charge.