Toddler Is Rescued From Bank Vault

(AP) ^

[Dallas]

WILLIAMSBURG, Pa. --

A toddler playing hide-and-seek became locked in a bank vault and spent nearly seven hours trapped inside while rescue workers pumped in oxygen and sang to him, officials said.

The boy, 18-month-old Matthew Mingle, was fed juice through a tube snaked through a hole until a locksmith from Canterbury, Ohio, arrived after 12:30 a.m. Wednesday.

The little boy was in the Hollidaysburg Trust Co. bank with his mother, an employee, and was playing hide-and-seek when the vault closed around 6 p.m. Tuesday.

The vault is on a timed release and cannot be opened with the usual combination and keys after business hours, bank official Stephen Martz said. A video camera let rescue workers watch the boy while he was trapped, he said.

Firefighters sang songs to keep the toddler calm, and he eventually fell asleep, Blair County 911 supervisor Tim Crabtree said.

He was taken to Altoona Hospital and then released to his family. Williamsburg is about 90 miles east of Pittsburgh.

Copyright © 2002, The Associated Press

[FreePaul]

Where was his mother when he was being locked in the vault? Is his mother still a bank employee?

[justshutupandtakeit]

Hey children are precious, I agree, but this is ridiculous.

[ClearCase_guy]

This reminds me of an O. Henry story. I believe a safe cracker, who was trying to go straight and avoid being spotted by the cops, was on the scene when a child was locked in a safe. The child would die unless the safe were opened. The safe cracker quietly did the job, and the cops quietly looked the other way when he left the bank.

Anybody remember the title of this one?

[MamaTexan]

I think they should bill the mother for the rescue!!

[TADSLOS]

There were days....oh, never mind.

[general_re]

"A Retrieved Reformation". You're welcome ;)

[Tennessee_Bob]

Thanks for posting that link. I forgot how much I enjoyed O. Henry's work.

[general_re]

Lemme see if I can get this straight - there is no possible way to open this thing by any sort of special method? I don't buy it.

Believe it. Once the time-lock is engaged, the vault cannot be opened by any method short of physical force, which is why they had to call a locksmith - any "back-door" method of opening the vault would defeat the purpose of the time-lock. And the fact that this locksmith came all the way from Ohio to Williamsburg, PA says to me that they had to call a locksmith with some fairly specialized knowledge of bank vaults, and not just the guy who jimmys your car when you lock the keys inside. ;)

However, you're probably right that the manager bears a great deal of responsibility here. Typically, in most bank branches, the vault is kept open during the day, to allow for easy access, and isn't closed and locked until the end of the day. But that means that someone allowed the vault door to close without first insuring that the vault didn't have anyone in it. Which would usually be the responsibility of the manager or assistant manager.

Bankers are pigs for time and devotion, and don't pay squat.

As a former bank employee, I couldn't agree more ;)

[faintpraise]

Thankfully no harm done. Should this toddler have been tethered for his own good?

[ken in texas]

I'm almost positive there would be another way to open it - just that the manager didn't want to.

Nope... the bankers in my family say that once it's on time lock the manager can't open it until the time lock says he can.

[Mfkmmof4]

Why should the mom lose her job? Accidents do happen.

[ken in texas]

I'm confused. Where did I say she should lose her job?

[Jimmy Valentine]

Why yes, actually. It was the story of Jimmy Valentine.

Regards

[LocDoc]

You got that right.