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'I Knew I Had To Do Something': Driver Helps Rescue Baby Crawling Across Busy Road

LAKEWOOD, N.J. (CBSNewYork/AP) -- Authorities say a baby girl found crawling across a busy New Jersey street was unharmed after a neighbor and passing motorist came to her aid.

The child was spotted around 5 p.m. Saturday in Lakewood, in southern New Jersey.

Baby Crawls Across Road
Motorist Cory Cannon help rescue a baby he spotted crawling across the road on Sept. 22 in Lakewood, N.J. (credit: Cory Cannon)

The motorist, 41-year-old Cory Cannon of Eatontown, said he saw the girl on Joe Parker Road and initially thought she was a toy.

The toddler somehow managed to leave her home through an unsecured screen door and started crossing the busy road.

"I wasn't actually sure what it was or what was going on, but once I saw the baby move, just, my heart stopped, and I knew I had to do something," Cannon told CBS2's Meg Baker. "Hopefully I did the right thing."

Cannon hopped out of his car while another car stopped traffic coming from the other direction.

"I yelled for the neighbors that I saw that were in their yard playing with their children. Someone actually came over, picked the child up, said it wasn't her child. So we walked her over to the adjacent house, knocked on the door, the door was wide open. A toddler came and answered the door initially. Then the adult came. We explained to him what was going on and gave him his daughter back," Cannon said. "Hopefully it doesn't happen again."

Cannon has a 4-month-old of his own at home and said the sight was alarming.

"It was like a shock to the system. You have to be more aware of your surroundings and be able to pay a little more attention to your children. That's basically what it comes down to," Cannon said.

The New Jersey Division of Child Protection and Permanency is assisting in the investigation.

(© Copyright 2018 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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