Police are looking for a young man, who got into a minivan parked on the 4800 block of Walnut Street with a 4-month-old infant in the back seat and drove off. The baby was later found unharmed in Germantown.
The incident happened at 7:50 a.m. when the minivan owner and the baby’s father left his car with the engine running at 4847 Walnut St. to make a purchase at a food store, according to police. The child was left secured in the back seat. When the man returned a short time later he discovered that his car along with his son was gone.
The child, who was strapped in his car seat when he was abducted, was found about 30 minutes later near Penn and Green Streets, according to police. The thief reportedly found a phone number inside the car and sent a text message telling where the child can be found. Police found the baby boy at that location outside in the rain, but unharmed, according to a report by NBC10.
Police released surveillance video from inside and outside the store, where the teenage suspect was seen before he fled in the stolen vehicle, a 2013 White Chrysler Town and Country, PA Tag# JMX-6013:
March 14th, 2016 at 6:30 pm
Ugh. Hope the parent gets some education from this. (Is it just me, or is leaving a vehicle unlocked and running with your kid in the back – and particularly so in this neighborhood – indicative of terrible parental judgment?)
March 14th, 2016 at 6:40 pm
Let’s just agreed that the person in the wrong is the person who stole a car and child. This is the stuff of my nightmares!
March 14th, 2016 at 7:02 pm
Absolutely, not blaming the victim here. Just pointing out that young uneducated men in this community are going to be around and commit vehicular thefts…given that dynamic, it’s just such a bad idea to keep your car running.
March 14th, 2016 at 9:55 pm
That video shows that the carjack happened on 49th street just north of Walnut, not at 4748 Walnut St.
Outside the 49 stop…
March 15th, 2016 at 2:29 am
Yes, the thief is in the wrong, but the owner is responsible for making the theft and kidnapping possible. I mean, my God! NEVER leave your key in the car, let alone with a child in it!
March 15th, 2016 at 6:25 pm
isn’t it against the law to leave any child under the age of 12 alone in a vehicle?
March 15th, 2016 at 6:28 pm
actually, just checked in pennsylvania the law is for children under 6
March 15th, 2016 at 8:45 pm
Hard to believe that people still leave their kids in the car ever. Unbelievable.
March 29th, 2016 at 3:49 pm
i think he is a hero
March 29th, 2016 at 6:33 pm
i agree , if you are talking about the car thief. it could have gone very badly. so , he did save the day.
March 29th, 2016 at 9:15 pm
the car thief is not a hero, he is a car thief. A hero could, potentially, have waited by the car and kept an eye on it. Perhaps he could have even politely told the parent that he had done so. The car thief was not in any way trying to help anyone but himself.
March 30th, 2016 at 1:48 pm
the car thief is underprivileged, and its not their fault.
Its the oppressors fault.
March 30th, 2016 at 3:48 pm
Sick burn on those liberal criminal apologists, Bob!
June 29th, 2016 at 3:39 am
What kind of parent leaves their car running with their child in it – IN ANY NEIGHBORHOOD, let alone, around the corner AND in a crime ridden neighborhood like that??? That guy should be investigated by family services. Reckless and irresponsible IDIOT, it’s just DUMB LUCK that his child wasn’t harmed.