Neighbor Finds 1-Year-Old Boy, Stolen Vehicle In Brooklyn
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Police say an infant has been found in Brooklyn after someone stole a vehicle while the young boy was inside.
The incident happened in Brooklyn just before 7 p.m. Monday.
According to police, a woman driving a white Mitsubishi SUV pulled over at the corner of Kingston Avenue and Dean Street in Crown Heights. She went into a store to buy groceries, leaving the vehicle running and her 20-month-old son in the back of the car.
Officers say she was in the store for about 30 seconds when an unknown black male individual got into the vehicle and drove away.
The woman immediately came out, realized her vehicle was missing and called 911.
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Multiple units responded to the scene and assisted in the search, and the New York State Police issued an amber alert.
Around 9 p.m., the vehicle was found about 11 blocks away at Park Place and Ralph Avenue. NYPD Assistant Chief Jeffrey Maddrey says people from the community noticed the vehicle and waved down nearby officers to alert them.
A woman, who did not want to be identified, told CBS2's Jessica Layton she noticed the SUV had been parked on her street for over an hour with the hazards on and thought it seemed strange. She says she put two and two together after seeing the amber alert and the alert on the Citizen app.
"I run to my super and told him, I said, 'That is a stolen car and the baby's inside,'" she said. "So he came down and ... they saw the baby sleeping."
She says she was in shock when she realized it was the stolen vehicle.
"I can't believe it. I was so happy that that little kid, that the baby was alive. 'Cause he was breathing and I was so, I was really happy, but I'm still in shock," she said.
Officers say the child appears to be unharmed, but he was being taken to the hospital as a precaution.
"There's no amount of time that's too short where you think you can get out of your vehicle running, unoccupied or occupied, if you leave your vehicle running for a split second, you create an opportunity for someone to steal your car," Maddrey said. "We're totally against that. When you exit your vehicle, you turn your vehicle off, at all times."
The investigation is ongoing.
