Oregon thief steals car with child, 4, inside, returns to 'lecture' mother, police say

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Oregon authorities are on the lookout for a thief who stole an unlocked vehicle with a child inside – then returned only moments later and lectured the mother before ordering her to get the tot out of the car and driving away, police told Fox News on Monday.

The mother had pulled her vehicle near the front door of Basics Meat Market in Beaverton, Ore., at approximately 9:10 a.m. on Saturday, according to The Oregonian-Oregon Live and Beaverton Police Department spokesperson Officer Matt Henderson. She was inside the store just feet away when the suspect got into the car – which was unlocked and running – and drove off, police said.

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But the driver did a "half-block loop" and briefly returned the vehicle to the mini-mart, he said.

"He presumably realizes that her car has a child in it, does a half-block circle, [and] returns in order to return the child," Henderson continued. "He lectures her that she shouldn't leave her child in an on, unlocked vehicle. He orders her to get in the car and retrieve her child."

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He even "threatened to call the police on her," Henderson told The Oregonian-Oregon Live.

"What she did was not a crime. She was within sight and sound of her child," Henderson told the local publication. "But she left the car running, so take that extra step, take the keys with you."

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The thief drove off again after the woman took her child out of the car.

Police located the vehicle, a silver Honda Pilot, hours later and roughly 10 miles away in Portland. They are still looking for their suspect, who is reportedly described as a 20-to-30-year-old man who had a multicolored mask and dark-colored, braided hair.