3 officers come to aid of toddler

EGG HARBOR TWP., N.J. - June 5, 2012 (WPVI) -- Three police officers, one from Pleasantville and two from Egg Harbor Township, have a good feeling that they may have saved a little boy's life.

2-year-old Anthony Alonso Armenia has been resting today and who can blame him.

The Mays Landing toddler has been through quite a bit in the past 24 hours.

"Anthony is a 33 pound, 2-year-old, so once I knew he wasn't waking up to eggs and toast in the morning, I knew something was wrong," Anthony's mother Adrienne Armenia said.

On Monday afternoon his temperature began to rise and he became pale; his mother knew she had to get him to the hospital.

But on the way there, right around Ocean Heights Avenue and Swift Drive, he had a seizure and stopped breathing.

"The moment was a blur. I automatically ripped him out of his car seat, dialed 911 right away," Armenia said.

Coincidentally, three cops were nearby.

Off-duty Pleasantville Police Captain Jose Ruiz was the first to stop and start CPR on Anthony.

Backup wasn't far behind.

12-year Egg Harbor Township police officer Curt Ware and rookie Joseph Griffiths, who was an EMT before joining the force six months ago, helped with the CPR.

Anthony finally started breathing on his own.

"Thank God pretty much. We're prepared for these situations. It's nothing anybody wants to go to but we were there and we were ready to go," Griffiths said.

"This is what we get into the job for; this is what makes the job worthwhile," Ware said.

The little's one mother is calling the officers a godsend.

"I would really like to thank them and praise them for their kindness and willing to help to bring my baby back," Armenia said.

Anthony's doctors say he most likely just got overheated which caused him to become severely ill.

His mother is keeping an even closer eye on him and she can't wait to give a formal thank you to the officers who were there when her son needed them the most.

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new jersey, atlantic county, police, local/state, kenneth moton

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