North Philadelphia

Sleeping boy found safe after unintentional kidnapping in stolen SUV, police say

A boy sleeping in the back of an SUV was found safe with the vehicle after it was stolen when his mother left her car running while she stopped to pick something up from a family member's house, police said

0:00
0:00 / 1:42
NBC Universal, Inc.

A four-year-old boy was found safe after the vehicle he was sleeping in was stolen when his mother stopped and ran into a friends house in Philly’s Strawberry Mansion neighborhood and left the car running. NBC10’s Brenna Weick has details.

Officials said a boy was found safely sleeping in the rear seat of an SUV that was recovered after his mother left the car running and unattended late Tuesday night in Philadelphia's Strawberry Mansion neighborhood.

According to Philadelphia Police Department Chief Inspector Scott Small, the incident happened just before midnight, when a woman parked her Toyota RAV4 outside of a family member's house along the 3000 block of Susquehanna Avenue to run inside to pick up a phone and left the engine running.

As her four-year-old son slept in the backseat, Small said, someone hopped into the running vehicle and drove away.

"She was only in the house for a minute," Small said. "When she came back out, she realized that her vehicle was stolen, so, she did the right thing. She immediately called 9-1-1."

Léelo en español aquí.

Small said that when police arrived on scene, the mother gave them a description of the vehicle and police began a citywide search.

However, the boy had a device in the vehicle that could be tracked, and, Small said, a family member helped police to track that device and a police helicopter was able to pinpoint the location of the vehicle about a mile away.

The vehicle was found abandoned -- with the child still sleeping inside -- near the intersection of 29th and Flora streets, Small said.

"We believe once they realized that there was a four-year-old asleep in the back, they immediately pulled the vehicle over at 29th and Flora and got out of the vehicle," said Small.

He said that, though this incident is "technically a kidnapping," Small doesn't believe the car thief knew the victim nor did they likely intend to take a vehicle with a child inside.

"We get a couple of these a year. We don't think it was a known doer," Small said.

The mother was immediately taken to be reunited with the boy and, Small said, the child was unharmed in this incident.

"We don't know if the child knew what was happening because the child is still sleeping right now, but the child is with mother, and the child is fine," he said.

Small also said that police will review footage from nearby surveillance cameras and they plan to search the vehicle for DNA evidence and fingerprints in an attempt to track down whoever stole the vehicle.

But, he said, the important thing was that the child was found safe and was reunited with his mother.

An investigation, Small said, is ongoing.

Contact Us