Thankfully, the child was found safe.
A mother in Volusia County, Florida left her two-year-old son in the backseat of the family Volkswagen Tiguan to grab something inside their house for just a moment, but that was long enough for a car thief to strike. Thankfully, according to WSVN, the sleeping child was later dropped by the thief outside a body shop and found by a Good Samaritan who called police.
Watch Florida police take down a Hyundai driver suspected of trafficking drugs here.
As parents we can only imagine the sheer panic and anguish the mother went through. While some are saying she shouldn’t feel bad, we sadly have to disagree. While we understand she didn’t want to wake up her sleeping son, leaving a child alone in a vehicle, even just for a moment, is the wrong call for many reasons.
While this situation turned out well, it easily could’ve gone down a much darker path. A vehicle can be replaced but a child cannot. Thankfully, the car thief was only interested in the vehicle and at least didn’t harm the child.
It’s also damn lucky the man who was driving by and spotted the child intervened when he did. The two-year-old easily could’ve wandered out into the road and been hit. He couldn’t been kidnapped again. The list of possibilities are too horrific to enumerate. Instead, someone who wanted to do the right thing found him.
Police in Volusia County are still looking for the thief and the red Volkswagen Tiguan. While we’re hoping they find him, we also hope this story helps drive home the point to parents that they should never, ever leave a child alone in a car, even for a few seconds. It doesn’t matter if you’re parked in a public place or your own driveway, leaving a kid in a vehicle is incredibly dangerous.
