Infant in car seat tumbles from vehicle

An infant in an improperly installed car seat was ejected from a car in Santa Rosa on Friday evening, the California Highway Patrol said today.

At about 7 p.m. on Friday, 18-year-old Santa Rosa resident Jocelyn Gallardo, driving a 2001 Mazda, was pulling out of a driveway on Santa Rosa Avenue near Castro Court when the car’s left rear door swung open and the child restraint seat containing Gallardo’s infant fell onto the road, according to the CHP.

A Sonoma County sheriff’s deputy driving south on Santa Rosa Avenue stopped when he saw the child in the car seat in the roadway.

Gallardo immediately stopped the car and ran to the child, the CHP said.

The infant suffered scrapes to her forehead and was transported to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital by ambulance for medical treatment, CHP officers said.

According to the CHP, Gallardo failed to properly install the child restraint and properly close the door.

The CHP said Gallardo claimed she used the seatbelt to attach the car seat.

She also said the car did not belong to her and that she was under the impression that the car door was stuck shut.

The incident remains under investigation.