PHOENIX—Officers wielding pistols and ballistic shields kicked in the door of a suburban Phoenix home in the middle of the night to bring a sick 2-year-old boy to a hospital after his mother refused a doctor’s advice to get him to an emergency room for what was thought to be a potentially life-threatening illness.
The doctor called child-welfare authorities on Feb. 25 after the mother didn’t show up at the agreed-upon emergency room, leading police in Chandler to knock on their family’s door to check on the condition of the boy, who earlier in the day had a fever of 105 degrees (41 Celsius) and was suspected to have meningitis.
