A car was stolen with a seven-week-old baby inside after the infant’s mother left the vehicle unattended to collect a takeaway. The mum told police her baby was asleep when she parked up in a disabled space at the Chipotle restaurant in Fontana, California, on Tuesday afternoon. She left the keys in the ignition of the 2013 silver Kia Optima to keep the air conditioning running while she went inside to pick up her order, police said.
A man who had been sitting at a table inside the restaurant on Sierra Ave allegedly jumped inside the car and drove off, officials said. The mother told police she ran after him in the car park, screaming at him to give her baby back, KABC News reported. The theft was reported at 1.56 pm, the City of Fontana Police Department confirmed.
Less than 90 minutes later, the vehicle was found empty 17 miles away in Norco, by a Riverside County sheriff’s deputy. A witness told the officer that a man had fled the vehicle with the baby in his arms and ran up a nearby hill. The suspect was found a short time later with the child, who was unharmed.
Police confirmed Agabosi Christopher Tanpinu was arrested. It is unknown if the mother will face any police action.