Good Samaritans save tot crossing 210 Freeway in San Bernardino

Good Samaritans spotted a 3-year-old toddler crossing the 210 Freeway near State Street in San Bernardino Saturday Sept.10. Photo by Beatriz E. Valenzuela SBSun

 

SAN BERNARDINO – Concerned citizens came to the rescue of a 3-year-old they say was trying to cross the eastbound lanes of the 210 Freeway near State Street in San Bernardino Saturday Sept. 10.

Juan Jose Panameno Castro of Pomona was driving on the freeway with his 15-year-old son Andy Gabriel Panameno, when the two spotted what they at first thought was a dog on the freeway. They first spotted the toddler near the State Street exit ramp, more than a half-mile from the family’s residence.

Andy admitted when he first saw the boy, later identified only as “Johnny,” he didn’t even know he was seeing a little boy. “I thought it was a dog but then when I saw him closer I thought, ‘Oh my gosh, it’s a kid,’ Andy said. “It was very unusual to see a kid on the freeway and then just walking out like that.”

When Panameno Castro first spotted the young curly-haired boy in a Mickey Mouse outfit on the freeway he was initially incredulous. But the father and son immediately pulled over and could not believe no one else on the freeway was stopping to help. Once he had pulled over and picked the tot up, he felt so much better.

“When I had him in my arms I felt relief,” the father said in interviews with media.

Once Castro had the toddler safely in his arms and out of harms way, a retired Los Angeles Police officer who was also traveling eastbound on the 210 Freeway, pulled over to assist the father and son.

Together, the three immediately called 911 to report having found the child.

What the trio didn’t know was while they were waiting for California Highway Patrol officers to arrive, a frantic search was already underway, with law enforcement officers, family, and neighbors searching nearby for the 3-year-old.

At about 8:30 a.m. – 45 minutes before little Johnny was found walking on the freeway – San Bernardino police received a call from a mother saying her 3-year-old son, known as Johnny, was missing from the family home in the 2100 block of W. Roosevelt Avenue.

After Johnny’s mother had scoured her home, she and her husband called 911 to report the child’s disappearance. They also enlisted the help of neighbors to find their son.

Johnny’s parents, who asked not to be identified, graciously thanked the good Samaritans for finding their son when they met up with them near an ambulance just off the freeway near State Street.

“I can’t thank you enough,” Johnny’s mother said as she first hugged the father and son before also embracing the retired officer and shaking his hand.

The child was taken to an area hospital as a precautionary measure and appeared to be in good health and was enjoying all the attention and his big adventure for the day.

Neighbors and family members who had been searching for Johnny also came to the location where Johnny was being checked out by emergency first responders to make sure the little wandered was fine.

“God bless them. They were amazing,” Johnny’s Aunt Veronica Villegas, who had been helping with the search, said. “His guardian angel was just with him and that’s what kept him from going into the cars.”

San Bernardino officers at the scene said they were investigating the incident. However no charges were expected to be filed, as it appeared the boy just wandered away from the home.

 

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Trevor Montgomery spent 10 years in the U.S. Army as an Orthopedic Specialist before joining the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department in 1998. He was medically retired after losing his leg in an off-duty accident.

During his time with the sheriff’s department, Trevor worked at several different stations, including the Robert Presley Detention Center, the Southwest Station in Temecula, the Hemet Station, and the Lake Elsinore Station, along with many other locations.