Colorado Springs police are crediting a stuffed “Minion teddy bear” with cushioning a 5-year-old girl’s fall from a third-story apartment window on Thursday night.

Police say the girl was playing in her bedroom about 8:30 p.m. on the 300 block of North Murray Boulevard when she fell backward out of the window.

“Fortunately, when the child fell out of the window, she continued holding on to a stuffed ‘Minion’ teddy bear that is believed to have cushioned her fall,” police said. “The child was transported to a hospital and treated for a broken arm and later released.”

Minions are animated yellow characters made famous by their prominence in the Despicable Me movie franchise.

Police say the fall was determined to be accidental.

Jesse Paul: 303-954-1733, jpaul@denverpost.com or twitter.com/JesseAPaul