Police: Fla. carjacker steals SUV with child inside
CORAL SPRINGS, Fla. -- Police say they are looking for a man who stole an SUV while its owner was fueling up at a South Florida gas station.
When a car owner stopped at a Coral Springs Sunoco, the thief apparently thought it was a crime of opportunity, reports CBS Miami. But unbeknownst to him, the car had a child inside.
Surveillance video from the gas station shows a man causally stroll up to the vehicle, walk to the back of it and then squat down. The man makes his way inside the car and drives off within seconds.
Coral Springs Police Capt. Brad McKeone told the Sun Sentinel the owner tried to "jump on the hood" of the vehicle to stop the man from initially driving away with the 6-year-old girl.
A member of the child's family, who did not want to be identified, told the station the girl didn't realize what was going on at first.
"She just said the car was going fast and he look at her and say, 'Get out!' She thought it was daddy," said the woman.
McKeone said that the carjacker noticed the girl in the back seat shortly after driving off. He stopped about two miles from the gas station and let her out of the vehicle.
Police say a jogger saw the child and called authorities. She was unharmed.
"She would not let go of the lady that found her, so they had to take the lady back to the gas station with her," the family member told CBS Miami. "That was her angel, so somebody saved her so she hang on to her."
The station reports that police are still looking for the man and the black Kia SUV, which has the license plate number CQQ V13. If anyone has any information, they are encouraged to contact Crime Stoppers at (954) 493-TIPS.