Phila. cops help deliver baby girl in police cruiser

Two Philadelphia police officers got a special delivery today while on patrol in North Philadelphia - a baby girl who was born in the backseat of their cruiser.

Officers Sean McCaffery and Charles Mellon, of the 25th Police District, were driving to a domestic call on Erie Avenue around 11:30 a.m. when they saw a man on the side of the road, waving his arms to flag them down.

The man stood beside a car that had apparently broken down. Inside the car was his wife, clearly in labor, McCaffery said.

Temple University Hospital was only a few blocks away, so the officers helped the woman into the cruiser and headed there. But they were a little too late.

"As we pulled into the parking lot of the hospital, they start saying, 'The baby's coming out,' " McCaffery said.

Mellon took McCaffery's utility knife and started cutting the woman's pants off. Just as he got the clothes off, the woman delivered a baby girl.

"It was pretty intense," McCaffery said. "I think the mother was in shock. Dad looked like he was as well."

Nearby medics came and cut the umbilical cord. The parents, who are Hispanic and speak little English, were whisked into the hospital. The names of the parents were not released, but both mother and baby are doing well, McCaffery said.

Today's experience was a first for McCaffery, who has been on the force for 13 years, and Mellon, who has eight years. They are usually bike patrol officers.

"Fortunately, we were in a car today," McCaffery said. "Otherwise, the baby would have been born on Erie Avenue."