Dog helps save toddler during roof escapades

updated 6:58 p.m. ET July 17, 2006

PHILADELPHIA - A toddler who climbed out a second-story window onto the porch roof of his family's row house was followed by his dog, whose barks alerted neighbors who rescued the child.

Phillip Redmond Jr., who will be 2 years old next month, apparently climbed out of a broken bedroom window Sunday and scampered across the narrow porch rooftops of at least eight homes, neighbors said.

The row homes have connected porch roofs; neighbors heard barking and saw the boy running from roof to roof followed by the family's German shepherd, Alfie.

"He was following the baby across," neighbor Tina Mitchell told WPVI-TV. "He was protecting the baby, making sure the baby was all right."

A neighbor, Shavyonn Robinson, was able to grab the toddler from the porch roof of a home a few doors down. The footprints of Phillip and Alfie could be seen in the blacktop coating on the porch roofs.

"First I had my hand sticking out (of the window) trying to grab him," she said. "That's when he tried to run past, because he thought I was playing with him, and he almost fell so I had to go out and get him."

Police questioned the toddler's parents, Phillip Redmond and Katie Berkelback, but no charges have been filed. Child welfare officials placed the boy in the care of relatives while the incident is investigated, said the boy's father, adding that he was embarrassed but grateful that his son was fine.

"It was my fault," he said. "I didn't think he could get out there."

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