Anchorage police say a 2-year-old toddler has been safely reunited with his family after he climbed out of a Mountain View home's window and roamed nearby streets early Thursday morning.
APD spokesperson Dani Myren says the toddler was one of two children sleeping at a home on the 4200 block of East 4th Avenue, while their parents were working night jobs and the kids' grandparents were staying with them.
The grandparents had checked in on the children at 1 a.m. and they were both still in their bedroom, which had a closed ground-floor window with measures in place to keep it from readily being opened.
"In this case we had a very active child, a very wily fellow, and he was able to get out of a window," Myren said. "A piece of wood had blocked the window from being opened, but it was moved -- he had figured out how it worked."
Items had also been placed outside the window to prevent anyone from getting out through it, but Myren says the toddler apparently squeezed past them and left the home.
APD got involved in the case at about 2:30 a.m., when police received a report of the toddler being found walking around from the 300 block of North Klevin Street -- about two blocks north of the home.
"(Police) got a report of a male juvenile who was found in a diaper," Myren said. "We had a found child, and we didn't know where it belonged."
Police responded to the scene and placed the child, who was unharmed, in emergency care approved by the state Office of Children's Services. Meanwhile, the family didn't learn of the toddler's departure until 6 a.m., when the 9-year-old child still in the bedroom woke up alone and notified the grandparents. The family subsequently called APD, and the toddler was reunited with them.
Thursday's case is the city's fourth this month involving children escaping from windows, but the first not to involve a fall. A 1-year-old child reportedly suffered no broken bones after falling from a third-story window in Fairview June 5, while two other infants suffered face and head injuries respectively after falls from second-story windows in Eagle River Tuesday night.
Myren emphasized that neither the parents nor grandparents seem to be at fault in Thursday's incident, saying it could happen at any home with small children.
"It looks like there's no signs of any neglect, and it looks like there were precautions taken, but it looks like there's a child that was very smart and he was able to get out," Myren said.
According to Myren, the rapid discovery of the child apparently kept him from getting into too much trouble during his travels.
"He probably didn't toddle very far," Myren said.
The National Safety Council has posted a list of window safety tips (PDF), addressing how to balance child safety with keeping windows usable as emergency fire exits.
Editor's note: A quote from APD spokesperson Dani Myren on who received the call about the toddler's location has been corrected from the reporter's initial notes.
Contact Chris Klint