Carjackers snatch baby from American family visiting Brazil

(Jornal Hoje)

A family vacation in Brazil turned into any parents’ worst nightmare when their car was stolen at gunpoint -- with their 7-month baby girl in it.

The Brazilian-American couple was visiting Sao Paulo to introduce their daughter to the family. On Wednesday night, as they were saying their goodbyes to a relative outside his home, two carjackers appeared out of the blue and forced them out of the vehicle.

The mother said she desperately tried to get the baby out of the car but was unsuccessful.

“When [the carjackers] saw the cops they panicked,” the mother, Debora Bonacci, told local reporters . “Then, with the door open, I tried to pull my daughter but couldn’t. They dragged me, tried to pull me into the car. That’s when they took off with the door open and my little girl in the car with them," said Bonacci, who lives in Carmel, New York with her American husband.

A dramatic high-speed car chase ensued, with shots fired from the stolen vehicle – police didn’t shoot because they knew the baby was inside.

According to the Jornal Hoje, the whole ordeal lasted no more than 15 minutes. It ended when the carjacker behind the wheel lost control of the vehicle and crashed it. The two men fled on foot, leaving the baby still buckled up onto the car seat, unharmed.

"We were born again, we all have to thank God and the police, who acted quickly so that nothing bad happened to my daughter," said the relieved mother.