Rob AriasThis morning at about 10:08 a.m., Emeryville Police Officers responded to the Home Depot parking lot near the Taco Bell on a report of a stolen vehicle. The frantic caller reported her vehicle was stolen with her 4-month-old infant inside who was strapped into a car seat.
The suspect, who was traversing the lot on a scooter, jumped in the car and fled the area traveling southbound toward Oakland with the infant still inside. Several witnesses attempted to follow the stolen vehicle but quickly lost sight of the car a few blocks into Oakland.
ADVERTISEMENT [adrotate group="13"]
Several minutes later, Oakland Police Department received a report of an abandoned child in a car seat left near the sidewalk in an industrial area of West Oakland near Union Street & 28th. Officers quickly determined the child located was the one who was taken during the theft of the vehicle.
EPD officers responded to the area of the vehicle theft and met with the mother of the infant. Officers also responded to Union St. and met with OPD officers.
The infant was uninjured and was reunited with the mother. The suspect fled the area after abandoning the infant and has not been located.
A mom parked her car in front of a Taco Bell in the East Bay Bridge Shopping Center in Emeryville, with the car engine running and her infant inside, to grab a to-go order. When she came back, her car and her baby were gone. https://t.co/lzt8nuH1oQ
— ABC7 News (@abc7newsbayarea) October 3, 2019
According to EPD Captain Oliver Collins, the child was left unattended in the unlocked, running vehicle. According to ABC 7, the mother left the child unaccompanied “to pick up a to go order at Taco Bell.” When she returned, her car and her baby were gone.
At this time, the suspect is still at large, and the vehicle has not been recovered. The stolen vehicle is a metallic dark grey 2018 Honda Accord, 4-door, license number 8EGL341.
That the mother would leave her 4-month-old infant unaccompanied in an unlocked running vehicle is beyond belief. At the very least, the mother should be charged with child endangerment and sentenced to many many hours of relevant community service.