The Great Smoky Mountain Journal

Staff, Wire Reports

Posted: Sunday, January 21, 2018 03:56 PM

Two Teens Save 3-Year Old's Life After Grandmother Allowed Her To Roam Streets Near Rockwood

ROCKWOOD, Tenn. (SOURCE: WVLT) -- It was a regular night for Zach Ford and his girlfriend until they saw a young girl running into a busy street. Their quick thinking likely saved a young girl's life.

"I'm like what is a toddler doing there because she had nothing but a diaper on," said Hannah Ashbrook.

Ashbrook and her boyfriend were on their way home on the night of Sept. 15 when she noticed a 3-year-old girl playing alone in the parking lot of the Smokin Joe's Tobacco shop on Gateway Ave.

Her boyfriend Zach Ford made the quick decision to turn around. Ford said as he approached the girl she darted into the road, prompting him to use his car to block both lanes of traffic.

"There was a car behind me moving pretty fast and barely had time to stop," said Ford.

Once his 2000 Crown Vic came to a stop, Ford's dash cam video showed his girlfriend picking up the little girl out of the road.

"The only thing I knew to do was to run out and grab her and hope she didn't dart across the road," said Ashbrook.

A police report said the toddler made it out of her grandmother's house sometime during the night.

Police reported detecting a strong smell of alcohol on 47-year-old Patricia Brown's breath, saying she admitted to drinking several beers earlier in the evening.

Brown was arrested, transported to the Roane County Jail, charged with Child Abuse & Neglect and released on $10,000 bail.