PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A toddler has been found safe, as Philadelphia Police found a car that was stolen with the 2-year-old boy inside.
The theft happened in Germantown at Ogontz and Belfield avenues just before 6 p.m. Thursday.
Police found the boy near the corner of North 16th and West Courtland streets, near Stenton Park.
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The boy and his mother have been reunited.
Police say the 29-year-old mother stopped for gas with her toddler sleeping in the car, went to pay for it and left the child in the car. Then someone jumped in and stole the car with the child inside, according to police.
Chief Inspector Scott Small said that the mother quickly notified police of what happened.
Investigators believe it was likely that the person who stole the vehicle did not know the boy was inside, and the child is nonverbal.
"Whoever stole this car may not even realize that there was someone sleeping in the back seat, and the person in the back seat is not going to talk," said Small.
The child was taken to a hospital to be checked out. The Philadelphia Police Special Victims Unit was investigating the case and searching for the suspect and the car.
"We got a good description of the person who took the car," said Small. He said the suspect is a man in his late teens or early 20s, about 5 foot 9 inches with a thin build, wearing a dark mask and dark clothing.
Small described the car as a silver 2010 Chrysler 300.