Thief steals Mercedes with 5-year-old inside, drops off kid unharmed in Bowie
BOWIE, Md. - A young boy sitting in the back seat of his mom's Mercedes went for a frightening ride Tuesday when police say a thief hopped in the vehicle and drove off.
Luckily, that 5-year-old was reunited with their parents in the Lake Arbor Village Shopping Center.
However, Prince George’s County police are still looking for the suspect responsible.
Around 6:15 Tuesday evening, detectives said a mother left her child inside her white Mercedes GLC while it was still running outside the CVS on Watkins Park Drive in Upper Marlboro.
A thief nearby then stole the SUV with the young kid inside.
Less than 30 minutes later, the suspect dropped the child off unharmed, police said.
SkyFox was over the scene capturing the police presence in front of Levi’s Restaurant where officers reunited the child with their parents.
FOX 5 spoke with the child's father who says he doesn’t care the family’s Mercedes was stolen. He’s just happy whoever took the car had the foresight to drop him off quickly after realizing he was inside.
After investigating the incident, police discovered the boy’s mother was running a quick errand at a nearby CVS, and left her son in the car.
After traveling nearly 2.5 miles with a stranger, the boy eventually wound up in Levi's Restaurant.
"When I came out, I tried to talk to the little boy, and he said that he was looking for his mother," said Willie Martin, the general manager at Levi's.
Martin says the 5-year-old boy wasn’t able to communicate much about what was happening or where he thought his mother was – but he was able to tell him she had gone to pick up some medicine.
Martin walked up and down the Lake Arbor Village Shopping Center asking if anyone there had lost their little boy. Other businesses said no, and eventually Kara Tolson called 911.
"I figured a mom wouldn’t just leave their child at a restaurant, so it made sense, but that just broke my heart that someone would steal a car and just leave a child anywhere," Tolson said.
Roxanne Galloway has lived in Prince George’s County for more than 20 years and says this situation is alarming and scary to hear.
"I am just totally mind blown," she told FOX 5. "I’ve lived in this area for over 20 years and I never have heard of any story like that happening to anyone in this neighborhood."
Prince George’s County Police Spokesman Brian Fisher sent FOX 5 a statement that reads: "Prince George’s County police are urging parents, grandparents, friends, never leave a child in a car unattended even if you believe you’ll only be a couple minutes."
Police have not disclosed a description of the suspect.
This is a developing story. Check back with FOX 5 for updates.