Amber Alert issued briefly in Massachusetts for child in car stolen from Chicopee
CHICOPEE - A 3-year-old boy has been found safe after Massachusetts State Police briefly issued an Amber Alert for a stolen car out of Chicopee Friday morning.
The boy was found at a hotel in Windsor, Connecticut and the Amber Alert was deactivated at about 10:30 a.m. He was taken to a Massachusetts hospital to be checked out as a precaution, but did not appear to be injured. The suspect, identified as 52-year-old Springfield resident Vadim Vorobyov, was taken into custody at a Dollar Tree in Windsor.
State Police said the suspect dropped the boy off at the Rodeway Inn, and hotel employees called police to report a child left on the property. Video from the scene appears to show the suspect letting the boy out of the car and driving away, leaving the toddler alone in the parking lot.
Vadim Vorobyov charged with kidnapping
Vorobyov will be charged with kidnapping, child endangerment and stealing a car, police said. Authorities do not believe he has any relation to the child, and the crime appears to have been random.
The red 2021 Toyota Camry was parked outside an Exchange Street home in Chicopee with the motor running when it was stolen at 8:40 a.m. with the boy in the backseat, State Police said. The boy's mother called 911 to report the theft.
A license plate reader identified the car heading south on Route 91 in Longmeadow, police said. The Toyota company helped police to find the unoccupied car in the Kennedy Road shopping plaza in Windsor.
What is an Amber Alert?
The Amber alert system is named after Amber Hagerman, a 9-year-old Texas girl who was kidnapped and murdered in 1996. The system uses the Emergency Alert System to broadcast information that could be used to help find abducted children.
Massachusetts State Police have three requirements that must be met before an Amber Alert is issued: The abducted child must be 17 years old or younger, the child must be in danger of serious injury or death, and police must have enough information to share through an Amber Alert that would help find the child.