Story By: Ana Lacasa, Sub Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Central European News

Video Credit: CEN/@laura.schelfthout

A father has been arrested after cops had to smash the windows of his car to rescue his crying three-year-old son who had been locked inside for more than an hour on a hot day in Argentina.

The incident occurred in a car park in the department of Guaymallen, in the western Argentina province of Mendoza, while the father was grocery shopping in a market. The temperature reportedly reached 37 degrees Celsius that day.

According to official sources “the boy was locked in the front part of the vehicle with the windows and doors locked while his father was doing grocery shopping in a nearby market”.

Picture Credits: CEN/@laura.schelfthout

The police were called and local media report they searched for the father before deciding to rescue the youngster from the vehicle.

In the video, an officer can be seen using a hammer to smash one of the rear windows and open the door.

The cop then lifts the crying toddler out of the pickup truck and asks for some water to help cool the youngster down.

The officers said: “We offered him water and took him to the Humberto Notti hospital where he was attended as he was suffering from tachycardia [high heart rate], sweating and a lack of energy.”

Reports state the father had gone to the scene after hearing his car alarm and he was arrested by the officers before being taken to a local police station.

Roberto Munives, the Head of Police in Mendoza, said to local media: “There are things that do not deserve more explanation, which is what he was going to say. Any father would have taken the child in his arms but he did not do that. He didn’t seem to be his father.”

The case is ongoing and it is unclear if the suspect has been charged.