Sherwood Police use roof rescue to spotlight autism awareness
Sherwood Police officers help rescue a young boy from a roof. Police say the boy has autism and are using this situation to help raise awareness for autism – Sherwood Police video still
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- Autism
- Sherwood Police
- Roof rescue
- Child safety
- Sensory seeking
- Autism awareness
- Emergency response
- Communication
SHERWOOD, Ore. (KATU) — The Sherwood Police Department (SPD) is using a scary situation to help raise awareness for autism.
In October, officers responded to a home after callers reported that a child with autism, who is also non-verbal, was running around on a roof.
When officers arrived, they saw the child on the roof and used a ladder to climb onto the roof.
Officials say the boy’s grandmother couldn’t climb onto the roof or get him down safely. The event was captured on the two officer’s body worn cameras.
“Officers climbed onto the roof and held onto him to keep him safe until Firefighters from Tualatin Valley Fire and Rescue arrived,” Sherwood Police said. “Working together, we were able to bring him down safely and reunite him with his family.”
“This incident is an important reminder of the unpredictable behaviors that can occur with children being on the autism spectrum. Children with autism may be drawn to heights, water, or other potentially dangerous situations out of curiosity, sensory seeking, or lack of awareness,” SPD stated.
Officials say that the community can all help by learning more about autism and how to respond.
“Approaching individuals with autism requires calm communication, patience, and understanding. Children and adults with autism may react to fear, stress, or sensory overload in ways that you may not expect. They may climb, wander, run away from situations that feel overwhelming, or run towards situations without recognizing dangers,” SPD said.
Sherwood Police say that several resources are available to learn about autism.
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“Autism looks different for everyone, and each person is unique with their own set of strengths and challenges. What looks like confusion or defiance may actually be them trying to self-regulate or communicate the only way they can,” Sherwood Police said.
‘It’s extremely dangerous’: Toddler rescued from baggage conveyor belt at Newark Airport
ByGio Benitez 
Monday, June 2, 2025
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Two officers rescued a two-year-old that stepped onto a baggage conveyor belt Wednesday at Newark Airport
NEWARK, N.J. — A toddler caused quite a scare at Newark Liberty International Airport after getting onto the baggage conveyor belt at the ticketing desk and riding it all the way to the baggage room.
It was a shocking and scary situation when a 2-year-old child ended up on a conveyor belt that is meant for luggage.
The toddler gained access to the belt at the JetBlue counter on the departures level on Wednesday. Officers then found the child in the checked baggage room on the lower level — thankfully unhurt.
“It’s extremely dangerous,” said Keith Jeffries, vice president for K2 Security Screening Group. “You’ve got diverters back there that are actually these gigantic pushers or levers, if you will, that will shove those bags down the appropriate conveyor belt, and that alone can be fatal for a small child.”
It’s a terrifying incident, and it’s happened more than once.
In 2021, MPR News obtained surveillance video showing a 9-year-old boy who climbed onto an airport luggage belt before getting pulled inside.
The boy had wandered away from his family at the Minneapolis Airport. Delta staff stopped the belt, but the boy escaped onto another one, which eventually brought him to the screening area. He could be seen in the video crawling out and jumping down.
Then, in 2019, another toddler went for a scary ride through the Spirit baggage system in Atlanta.
The two-year-old went through the conveyor system, climbing over bags and passing inside an X-ray machine before finally going down a ramp into a large baggage screening room where TSA agents found him and called for help. He suffered cuts to his arm and a fractured hand.
Terrifying moment bystanders save mother, children from kidnapping caught on camera
Friday, April 25, 2025
Authorities did not specify if the man and woman were known to each other.
Security footage captured the moment bystanders intervened to help a mother who was trying to prevent a man from driving away with her children.
The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office released footage that shows multiple people rush to help a woman who was trying to pull her two-year-old and six-month-old children out of the back seat of a vehicle in March.
The suspect was trying to drive away in the parking lot of a Department of Motor Vehicles office.
“Investigators determined the man was driving off against the woman’s will, dragging her and one of the children through the parking lot,” the sheriff’s office said.
The people who helped get the woman and children to safety were able to provide a description of the man and license plate number to authorities, the sheriff’s office said.
Authorities did not specify if the man and woman were known to each other.
Officers arrested a 26-year-old man later that day.
He was charged with child abuse, false imprisonment, battery, possession of marijuana, and resisting an officer without violence.
