Car thief finds 4-year-old in backseat, returns to scene to scold mother
The suspect remains at large.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}An Oregon carjacker allegedly swiped an idling SUV, drove down the street and discovered a 4-year-old inside – so he turned around, drove back to the scene and scolded the mother for leaving her child unattended.
The mother left her son in a running vehicle before going into a butcher shop in Beaverton at 9:10 a.m. Saturday, according to Beaverton Police spokesman Matt Henderson.
The mom was inside for barely a minute when police said she and the clerk saw a man hop into her idling vehicle and speed off. He drove about a half a block before allegedly turning around.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}CALIFORNIA DRIVER ARRESTED WITH 'IT' MASK, AR-15
When he returned to the store, police said he scolded the mother for leaving a young child unattended in the running vehicle and demanded she remove her son from the SUV.
After she did, police said he took off again.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Authorities recovered the stolen vehicle later in the day about 10 miles away in Portland, but the suspect remains at large.
Henderson said the suspect was a White male adult, in his 20s or 30s with dark brown or black braided hair. He was wearing "a multicolored COVID-style mask."
There were no external security cameras in the parking lot, but the mother and a clerk got a glimpse of the carjacking, he said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The 4-year-old and the mother were not hurt.
"But it was a traumatic incident, I’m sure," Henderson said.
The investigation is ongoing.
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The unidentified woman told Fox 12 Oregon that she would "never" leave her child in a running vehicle again.
"As moms we get really busy and we think we’re just running in for a second and this is just a perfect example of just letting our guards down and how terribly it could have ended," she told the station.