HOWEL, NEW JERSEY — A 4-month-old baby girl is lucky to be alive this week after she was left alone inside a hot car at a Kohl’s parking lot on Monday. <br /> <br />Police investigators estimate that the unnamed child was inside the car for 40 minutes, reported Fox News. The temperature outside was in the high 80s. <br /> <br />Ex-cop Steve Eckel and Sara Mazzone passed by the vehicle separately in the Kohl’s parking lot when they heard the child crying. They both struggled to open the car door. <br /> <br />That’s when Eckel remembered there was a sledgehammer his car, so he went to get it. <br />The 53-year-old hammered the window several times before it fell to pieces. <br /> <br />Eckel and Mazzone made sure the kid was alright until police arrived and took her away. <br /> <br />“There's no doubt in my mind the baby would be dead if we didn't do what we did," Eckel told the New York Daily News. <br /> <br />The baby’s mother, Karen Gruen, was charged with endangering the welfare of a child and is set to appear in court at a later date. <br /> <br />Police released the child into the custody of her father.
