Dash cam video shows a toddler wandering into traffic on Zarzamora. A Via Link driver steps in, pulling him to safety in a moment that may have saved his life.
SAN ANTONIO — A routine ride on the South Side turned into a life-or-death moment when a driver spotted a toddler alone in traffic — and jumped into action.
Dash camera video captures the moment Michelle Gallegos realized what she was seeing.
“Oh my God, there’s this little boy in the middle of the street,” she says in the video.
The child had wandered into multiple lanes of traffic along South Zarzamora Street, just south of Interstate 35, as cars sped past him.
Gallegos, an independent contractor who drives with zTrip and was working a Via Link shift in her regular zone that morning, said she initially couldn’t believe it.
“Just running into the street. I had to open and close my eyes, like, is this real?” she said.
At the time, Gallegos had one of her regular passengers in the back seat.
She said she first thought the movement in the road might have been an animal.
“There are a lot of dogs around here, so I just assumed it was a dog,” she said.
But as she got closer, she realized it was a young child — running into traffic, pausing briefly after she honked, then continuing north along Zarzamora alongside her SUV.
“This truck next to me was speeding through… If I didn’t stop, he would have gotten him,” she said.
Gallegos, who spends 10 to 12 hours a day driving across the South Side, said moments like this require constant awareness.
“Now I’m looking everywhere at all moving parts. It was very nerve-wracking,” she said.
She pulled over, got out and brought the child into her vehicle, placing him in the front passenger seat and holding onto him as she worked to get out of traffic.
Dash cam video shows her speaking gently to the child.
“Where do you live, baby? Here, sit right here,” she says in the video.
She said the child did not respond or point when asked where he lived.
“He was not scared whatsoever. He was skipping, he was playing,” she said. “He didn’t understand the danger that he was in.”
While waiting for help, Gallegos gave the child snacks to keep him calm.
She then drove into the parking lot of the Seven Pines Apartment Homes, which was immediately on her right, and called 911.
Police arrived in less than 10 minutes.
Employees at the apartment complex told KENS 5 the child’s family had been frantically searching for him.
Soon after officers arrived, Gallegos says the child’s guardians emerged from the complex.
“As soon as they arrived, I see the parents walking up very calmly,” Gallegos said.
She said she later heard the family mention they had been at a doctor’s appointment, though it was unclear how the child ended up alone.
“His hair was dirty, his face was dirty, he was barefoot, [his] pamper was soaked… to the point where it was uncomfortable,” she said.
The moment, she said, came down to instinct — and training.
zTrip provides defensive driving training to its drivers, which Gallegos said she has used in multiple situations, including this one.
In a statement, zTrip General Manager Lauren Smith praised the driver’s actions, calling them “an extraordinary act of awareness, compassion, and responsibility” and “a powerful example of going above and beyond.”
The company said its drivers are trained to stay alert and are often “the eyes and ears of the community.”
For Gallegos, the moment wasn’t about recognition — but responsibility.
“I’m thankful that day that I was able to see him from afar and was able to stop and slow down in enough time,” she said. “I would hope that everyone in that situation would do the same thing.”
KENS 5 reached out to San Antonio police about the incident. They told us they documented it and returned the child to his parents.