Police need help identifying man who stole a car left running with unattended baby in back seat
The Vero Beach Police Department (VBPD) continues to seek help in attempting to identify the individual who stole a car that was left running outside of a store in Vero Beach, Florida, on Friday. The stolen car sparked a massive manhunt in the area because the car was jacked with an unattended infant inside the vehicle.
VBPD reported that the carjacking / kidnapping took place in the 1200 block of 16th Street in Vero Beach on September 15 at approximately 4:20 p.m. The owner of the car had stopped at Nitou’s Beauty Supply store at that address, but he made the crucial mistake of leaving his car running with his 10-month-old son in the back seat.
After only a few minutes in the store, the dad returned to his car – but it was gone – along with his baby boy.
A frantic search ensued for the stolen car and kidnapped child. WPTV reported that along with the Vero Beach PD, the Indian River County Sheriff’s Office and Sebastian police also helped in trying to locate that stolen vehicle in a desperate attempt to recover the kidnapped infant. Ultimately:
… the car was found abandoned 40 minutes later about 2 miles from the beauty supply store. The child was unharmed, and was still buckled in his car seat. Police said the man who took the car jumped a fence and ran through the Shadowbrook Apartment Complex before heading west on 14th Street. ~ WPTV
The subject of the manhunt still needs to be identified and captured. The incident of the individual who stole that running car with the baby still in the back seat was captured on surveillance video. Police distributed pictures of the car thief / kidnapper on social media and provided his description.
The suspect was identified as being “a thin, black male, pictured wearing blue jeans, black shoes, a black t-shirt, with a tan and black hat.”
If anyone has information regarding the suspect’s identity, please contact Det. Crowley at the Vero Beach Police Department.
- Phone: (772) 978-4664
- Email: scrowley@vbpd.org
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(Source and images: VBPD)
~ Posted by Richard Webster, Ace News Today
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