Sergeant, Officer Recall Saving Baby That Nearly Drowned

The quick thinking of Foothill Division Sergeant Roland Fogel and Officer Leroy Alley earlier this week saved the life of an infant who fell in a toilet, according to a Los Angeles Police Department press release.

While out on patrol Wednesdsay, they responded to a radio call of a woman screaming in the 8200 block of Laurel Canyon Boulevard in North Hollywood, the statement read.

When they arrived at the scene they saw a mother holding a lifeless baby in her hand. The child apparently fell into a toilet while playing with her 3-year-old sister in the bathroom, according to the LAPD.

“The baby's hair was dripping with water, her face was blue and her eyes were rolled back, she wasn’t breathing,” Alley said.

The mother tried performing CPR, but was unsuccessful.

Fogel, a former fire fighter, called for an ambulance, while Alley tried something else. Alley placed the infant face down on his right forearm with her head resting in his palm to expel water from her lungs, the release read.  

Both officers began patting and rubbing the baby’s back and within 15 seconds, she regained consciousness and started crying.

“When the baby started crying it was just an extraordinary feeling for both of us," Fogel said.

Fogel and Alley comforted the infant as well as the mother and 3-year-old daughter until an ambulance arrived.

The baby was hospitalized, but has since been released and is back home in good condition with her family, the statement read.