The mother, Christina Tuffords, called police and On-Star, despite having an expired account.
"We actually don't have a connection to that vehicle, so we can't unlock it," the On-Star operator said.
Body camera video shows an officer using his baton to try to break the window, but to no avail.
Tuffords is seen panicking as her daughter, Maddie, sat inside the car. Tuffords said she had put Maddie in a car seat and used the remote start to keep the car cool while she unloaded the car.
But the keys were also inside the car.
“Then all the doors locked, and she was inside with the keys,” Tuffords said.
Officer Kyle Osinga with the Stuart Police Department said Maddie was not looking very well.
“The kid is not OK anymore. The head is down, the eyes are closed. That’s when the adrenaline, that’s when I start to freak out," Osinga said.
A woman with a hammer approached the officer, who then used it to break the window.
Maddie is OK, but Tuffords said she wants parents to remember that all the doors can lock automatically while using a remote start function in a vehicle.
Tuffords said she now keeps a window punch device in her purse.
On-Star said the only way to reactivate an expired account is by pressing the On-Star button inside the vehicle.
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